By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
All Progressives Congress, APC, factions in Rivers state will be contesting the coming gubernatorial and National Assembly elections by proxy, impeccable sources have disclosed. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC last week announced the exclusion of Rivers APC National Assembly candidates from the election and is expected to also announce the exclusion of Tonye Cole, the party’s gubernatorial candidate when it releases lists of governorship candidates and their parties.
INEC’s action was predicated upon court rulings declaring the APC as having no candidates in all the strata of elections in the state. Struggle between Transport Minister, Chibuike Amaechi and his erstwhile ally, Senator Magnus Abe for the soul of Rivers APC had resulted in parallel ward, local government and state Congresses of the party as well as parallel legislative and gubernatorial primaries. While Senator Abe’s APC faction produced him as the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Amaechi’s faction threw up Cole, a multi-billionaire owner of Sahara Energy.
The ensuing multiple court cases to determine whose faction is the authentic Rivers’ APC was to become tragic for both factions as the court ruled there were no valid congresses and primaries in the state and therefore, disqualified the party from fielding candidates for the elections.
The APC factions are however undaunted. Amaechi’s faction, for example, has allegedly adopted one of the fringe parties as a stop-gap measure. Under the arrangement, The Source was told that National Assembly and gubernatorial candidates of the party who will be forced to sign pre-dated resignation letters will be massively funded to win the elections. Few months after inauguration, their resignations from office will be announced paving the way for the APC faction’s candidates to fill the vacuum, either by contesting the positions on the APC platform or on the fringe party’s platform, depending on INEC’s guideline for the by-elections.
In the event that INEC insists only the parties that contested the first election are eligible to contest the by-elections, candidates of the APC faction will file out on the platform of their adopted, stop-gap party but will shortly switch back to the APC after victory.
Abe’s faction is also said to be neck deep in the same arrangement. Another source however cast doubt about the Senator’s financial capacity to line up and support National Assembly candidates of a smaller party in the forthcoming election. “I think the proxy arrangement Senator Abe is making is only for himself. He is supporting a gubernatorial candidate of one of the small parties. I doubt if he has the war chest to sponsor candidates for other offices”, the magazine was told.
Meanwhile, APC members in Rivers who spoke to the magazine have dismissed the alleged proxy arrangement. They insist reprieve will eventually come APC’s way as, according to them; the matter has not been definitely decided. “The Supreme Court window is still there, I am sure the apex court will soon rule on the matter; I am hopeful APC’s right to field candidates will be restored”, one of them told The Source.
Another blamed the PDP and Governor Wike for, according to him, “spreading this laughable election by proxy speculations”. “The PDP and their governor are jittery of defeat in an open, free and fair contest; that is why they are singing this proxy song”, he further alleged.
