Chief Tony Okocha, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of disrespecting the judiciary by failing to heed court decisions.
Okocha, who made the charge while interacting with journalists in Port Harcourt, questioned why a State High Court would rule on the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when the case was before the Appeal Court.
He stated, “The governor does not respect the law. He respects laws when they benefit him, but he disregards them when they do not. I’m not familiar with that system; no one has taught it in Political Science. They just tell me that the law is sacred and must be followed.
“I don’t know of any theory that had taught me that when a topic is in your interest, it is in your favor, you would like it, but when it is not in your favor, you will condemn.
“I am hearing that a High Court, with no regard for the Court of Appeal where a matter is pending, went ahead and said it had expelled the PDP Chairman in Rivers State. Whether the court says X or Y, the party has the authority to inaugurate a party-state executive committee.
The APC chairman, who said that Port Harcourt, the state capital, had transformed from Garden City to Garbage City, lamented the city’s absence of street lights on main roadways.
Okocha stated, “Port Harcourt was renowned as Garden City, but under the current government, it has turned into a Garbage City. Port Harcourt has become a rubbish metropolis, and the surrounding areas stink.
“Port Harcourt is dark. Aren’t we aware? Apart from the interventions that we have made as NDDC, I am referring about key routes such as Ikwerre Road, Airport Road, G.U Ake Road, and Aba Road, which are all gloomy at night. So you claim we have a government? Rivers State is dark, and you and I understand the effects of darkness in an environment.”
However, in a rapid response, the state commissioner for information and communication, Warisenibo Joseph Johnson, stated that Okocha-led APC executives no longer exist in the state because the court has long acknowledged Emeka Bekee as chairman of the party in the state.
Johnson, who asked the public to reject his opinions as irrelevant, revealed that the state administration under Fubara is focused and performing important work, which the people are witnessing.
