Some members of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State under the aegis of the Concerned Members of the APC, have deplored the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly for allegedly dumping the party.
Recall that in the wake of the political crisis currently rocking the state, some state Assembly members led by the Speaker, Amaewhule dumped the ruling Peoples Democratic Party for the opposition APC.
In December 2023, Amaewhule announced the defection of the 27 lawmakers on the floor of the House.
But Governor Siminalayi Fubara recently declared their seats vacant, insisting that their mode of defection was illegal.
Reports, however, claim that the Assembly members have made a U-turn, claiming that they are still members of the PDP.
Confirming this development, a Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt on Monday ruled that Amaewhule and the other 26 lawmakers are still PDP members.
In its reaction, the APC group in a statement by its President, Ezegwu Thomas, warned the leadership of the party in the state against accepting the lawmakers, describing them as fair-weather politicians.
The group’s statement reads, “We are compelled to address a pressing matter that threatens the very fabric of our great party. Recent events have led us to sound a note of caution and vigilance to all loyal members of our party.
“As you may be aware, some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly publicly defected from the PDP to our esteemed party. However, in a bizarre twist, they have since denied any affiliation with our party, leaving us with no choice but to categorize them as political prostitutes with no allegiance to any political organization.
“We view this development with great concern and warn our members to exercise extreme caution in dealing with these individuals. Their antecedents show a pattern of political opportunism, and we fear that their presence within our ranks could spell doom for our party’s unity and progress.
“We caution our members that these individuals, who have no qualms about denying their own party affiliation, will not hesitate to do the same to our party and even our esteemed President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu when it suits their interests. We must not let our guards down and allow such fair-weather politicians to infiltrate our ranks.”
