A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency, has declared that no legitimate Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was held in Rivers State.
Instead, he alleged that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, organized a gathering with his friends under the guise of a party congress.
The PDP state congresses, held a few weeks ago, were marred by controversy in several states, including Rivers, Benue, Katsina, and Kogi. In Rivers State, the congress was conducted despite a court order preventing the event.
This situation has sparked a dispute between the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, which authorized the congress, and the PDP Governors Forum, which insists that Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains the party leader in the state.
In a statement released on Saturday, Ugochinyere criticized the event organized by Wike’s faction, calling it “laughable” and nothing more than a “jamboree.” He asserted that no PDP congress occurred in Rivers State and claimed that “Nyesom Wike, in a desperate bid to appear relevant to his dwindling followers, organized a social gathering and labeled it a state congress.”
The lawmaker emphasized that the event was held in defiance of a court order that prohibited any PDP congress in the state. He described Wike’s gathering as “an exercise in futility.”
Ugochinyere stated, “Let me be clear: there has been no PDP state congress in Rivers State. Wike, out of desperation to maintain appearances before his declining supporters, held what can only be described as a social event, masquerading as a congress.”
He referenced a July ruling by the State High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Charles Wali, which issued an interim order halting any PDP congresses in the state. “The court’s decision was unequivocal,” Ugochinyere added, “and any attempt to hold such a gathering defies that order and should be seen as nothing more than a frivolous political display.”
He further criticized some PDP members, alleging that they were conspiring with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stage a fake congress. “The so-called congress is null and void, as there remains a valid court order prohibiting any such event in Rivers State. You cannot build something on nothing,” he concluded.
