The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, expresses discontent over Governor Amaechi’s last minutes embarkation on the so-called tour of the 23 local government areas of Rivers state, saying such programme is driven by ill- conceived motive and attempt to intimidate and influence the electorate ahead the 2015 elections.
The PDP says its criticism of the on-going meetings between the Governor and the people at the instance of the Governor is a grand plan and action by the All Progressives Congress, APC, leadership in the State to publicise the Party and to recruit political thugs and electoral mercenaries in the various LGAs.
The Party wonders why Governor Amaechi will embark on such tour seven months left of his administration’s live span if not for ulterior motive, adding that reports from the areas so far visited confirmed that Governor Amaechi with his APC entourage, rather than genuinely discuss and respond to the issues raised by the people, only pressure them to register, support and vote for the APC in coming elections in the State.
The PDP believes that this open campaign by the APC using the Rivers State government platform contravenes the provisions of relevant sections of electoral guidelines, as provided in the Nation’s Electoral Law and which attracts punitive action.
It is also to the PDP, a disturbing sudden development that the Governor who criticized a former Governor of the State for using State funds to empower the people, is today not just a strong advocate but a propounded of the APC kind of ’empowerment’ theory, as in his commanding statement at the local government council meetings, forbids the Chairmen of the newly inaugurated Caretaker Committees from carrying out any development project in their council areas but to use both the internally generated and the monthly allocations to the LGA for empowerment (otherwise called settlement) of the ‘Boys’ and the ‘people'( who are potential members of the APC).
The PDP further observes that the huge financial resources of the State and the LGAs are being squandered by Governor Amaechi on the so called Local government tour, disclosing that information available to it indicate that the CTC Chairman of each of the Local Government Councils to be visited by the APC train led by the Governor provides N30m to support the event, in addition to the payments from the State’s treasury.
While calling the attention of the public and the economic and financial graft agencies to the continued fraudulent practices of the Rivers State government, the PDP also urges the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to be alert to the breach of relevant sections of the electoral laws and to impress on Governor Amaechi to desist from wasting public funds on personal ambition.
