Fubara, Dumo absent from Rivers guber debate

Governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Siminialayi Fubara, was absent from the governorship debate organised by investors’ group and media organisations in the state on Sunday night.

While the governorship candidate of Accord Party, Dumo Lulu Briggs, also failed to attend, citing flight delay; Fubara neither gave a reason for his absence nor sent a representative.

Governorship candidates of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Magnus Abe; All Progressives Congress (APC) Tonye Cole; and Labour Party (LP), Beatrice Itubo, attended the debate.

The debate group, which canvassed violence-free election, said peaceful transition was paramount to sustaining the economy of the state.

Meanwhile, the PDP in the State has accused the leader of the APC in Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, of being a member of a cabal that has inflicted pain and suffering on Rivers people and other innocent Nigerians.

The party also challenged Amaechi to deny that he had no hand in the naira crisis and fuel scarcity that have made life a nightmare in Nigeria. Director of Publicity and Communications of the Rivers PDP Campaign Council, Ogbonna Nwuke, said in a statement, yesterday, that Amaechi was part of the cabal that allegedly tormented innocent and hardworking Nigerians.

“Nigerians have been forced to go through the eye of the needle in search of money with which to meet their daily needs and feed their families.

“Unknown to most Nigerians, the vicious cabal that has made it a duty to inflict pain and suffering on the rest of us has done so deliberately in order to influence the outcome of the forthcoming elections.”

BUT reacting to PDP’s allegation against Amaechi, the APC spokesman, Darlington Nwauju,  said all attempts by PDP  to smear Amaechi has kept falling like a pack of cards.

Nwauju said: “Nigerians can now see through the web of lies, evil machinations and sophistry of the clueless PDP administration in Rivers State as the continuous campaigns of calumny against former Governor Amaechi keep falling like a pack of cards.

Not too long ago, Wike, who is the leader of the faction of PDP in Rivers State that authored these false claims, was seen on live television boasting that the former transportation minister no longer has access to Aso Rock Villa. Today, the same faction of the PDP shamelessly names the former Governor as a member of the cabal. 

“Should we take such persons seriously? Nigerians can easily see through these tantrums as claptraps by failed politicians who have made wrong political permutations and are now struggling to point fingers. What business has a man who is outside of the corridors of power have to do with current policies of the Federal Government? It’s a shame that people can spew all sorts of rubbish in the name of politics. This to our mind is hate speech and must not be encouraged”.