The controversy over who is the true leader of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has continued to generate reactions from stakeholders of the party in the state.
While APC members in Rivers State refer to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi as their leader, Tony Okocha, a former Chief-of-Staff to Amaechi, who leads a faction of the party, claims to be the leader.
State youth leader of APC, Baridakara Gbarato, criticized Okocha, after his recent statement, when he featured in a programme in one of the radio stations in Port Harcourt, Today 95.1 FM, claiming that as the leader of APC, he led the campaign that saw the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on behalf of the party-elected executives, Gbarato said it is self-indicting for Okocha to claim to be the leader of the APC, but regards Senator Magnus Abe as the leader of the Social Democratic Party, by virtue of his position as the Governorship candidate of the party.
He said Okocha was being biased in his position about the leader of the APC in the state.
Gbarato said common sense should let Okocha know that the Governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Patrick Tonye-Cole is ranked higher than him, let alone the former Minister of Transportation.
“In the interview today on Today FM, Tony Okocha claimed Senator Magnus Abe is the leader of the SDP, by virtue of his being the flag bearer of the SDP.
“How come in the case of the APC, he is claiming to be the leader of the APC in Rivers State, when he was not even a councilor candidate, let alone the Governorship candidate of our party?
“Clearly, there seems to be serious confusion deliberately created by Tony Okocha, in order to make money out of the situation, because there is no way one man can belong to three political parties at the same time.
“This entire desperate move is aimed at keeping himself in circulation, while the youths are constantly used by him as data boys, with no clear picture of their stake in the government”, he said.
