A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, Onimi Kabaka Brown says Bonny LGA was not in the scale of preference of the Nyesom Wike led Rivers State Government under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Brown said this in reaction to the PVC Collection Rally organized by the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) on Saturday, August 13, 2022 in Bonny, Rivers State.
GDI is a political pressure group under the PDP in Rivers State, which also served as the political structure of Nyesom Wike in pursuit of his ambition to become Governor of the State in 2015.
He regretted that after seven years of the PDP holding sway in Rivers State, the best it could offer the people of Bonny LGA was a PVC collection rally, stressing that “Bonny people know where INEC office is and they will go and collect their PVC but the PDP and GDI should not use PVC collection as a back door to come and campaign in Bonny”.
“After seven years, it’s PVC collection rally that they can come up with? On the PDP’s scale of preference, we’re down the ladder; we’re not featured in the scheme of things. We lack representation as a people. It’s a wake-up call for my people.”
“The essence of politics is development and empowerment, and politics is nothing without these two.”
“Bonny LGA is top three in terms of revenue generation in the State. It is on record that Bonny LGA has contributed billions of Naira to the Rivers State Government coffers in IGR, PAYE and other taxes but with no project in seven years.”
“Despite being a chieftain of the APC in Rivers State, I am an opinion leader of repute in Bonny Kingdom. I will not fold my hands and watch my Kingdom being shortchanged on the altar of politics. We’ll speak out and our voices will be heard.”
The former APC House of Assembly aspirant called out the recent defectors from the APC to the PDP in Bonny LGA, querying their bargaining chips on the basis of which they decamped to the PDP, pointing out that as a consequence of the defection of some APC chieftains in Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro LGAs to the PDP Governor Wike awarded the Opobo Ring Road and mobilized back to site the contractor working on the Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road.
Earlier this week, a former Chairman and Publicity Secretary of the APC, Davies Ikanya and Chris Finebone, respectively, decamped to the PDP. This was sequel to an earlier move to the PDP by some stalwarts of the APC in Bonny LGA.
“The Bonny people that decamped from the APC to the PDP, what did they bargain with? What were their bargaining chips? What are they bringing home? We all know that the buck stops on the table of the Governor; if the Governor wants to do anything he will do it.”
“See the deplorable state of Bonny internal roads, you can’t drive your car in Bonny without visiting the mechanic. No thanks to the state of the roads. Bonny needs projects, development, Bonny needs to be empowered.”
“Governor Wike promised to award the Opobo Ring Road and pay in full before he leaves office when Finebone was led to Wike by his former boss, Ikanya, who had earlier decamped to PDP and also secured funding for the Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road.”
“In the past, Bonny was respected in the State; men like Chief Idamieibi Brown, Reginald Wilcox, Dappa Biriye, and others were strong voices in Rivers’ politics but today the Bonny man is going for peanuts.”
Onimi Kabaka Brown charged the people of Bonny LGA to be alert and not allow the PDP to hoodwink them with mouthwatering promises, asserting that “GDI is PDP, and PDP is GDI; Let PDP show what they have done for Bonny people. Our people should not close their eyes or be deceived”.
“Wike and PDP are campaigning by proxy via GDI. Everybody knows GDI was the tool upon which Wike rode to power in 2015. We know their antics.”
He maintained that despite the spree of defections from the party, the “APC is hale and hearty in Bonny LGA,” declaring that “we have decided to take power back to the people and we’ll continue to provide platform for viable opposition for the good of the people”.
“Bonny is not a one party LGA and in dire need of effective representation across every strata of government which cannot be provided by Wike and PDP; so, as a people, we must look inward and fast-track.”
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