Amaechi Woos 1.5m Non-Indigenes To APC

Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has created what the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barr. Chuma Chinye, described as the 24th Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The new ‘local government’ is the Non-Indigene Political Pressure Group (NIPPG) in APC, Rivers State which, according to Barr. Chinye, is to protect the political interests of the over 1.5 million non-indigenes residing in Rivers State.
A statement issued yesterday in Port Harcourt by Senior Media Aide to the State APC Interim Chairman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said: “Barr. Chinye, the political leader of NIPPG, who hails from Delta State, affirmed the need to set up this structure – the first of its kind in any part of Nigeria – saying that it is in keeping with the antecedents of Governor Amaechi”,  to give equal space to all residents of the state to participate in the political process.
Eze quoted Chinye as describing Amaechi “as a great leader whose patriotism is legendary and qualifies him as a true nationalist. In short, he is the hero and hope of the non-indigenes in Rivers State, if the ways he has carried the non-indigenes along in his administration are anything to go by.”
The statement said the commissioner “noted that Governor Amaechi has a history of giving non-indigenes a sense of belonging, as reflected in the composition of the State Executive Council.”
He pointed out that, “apart from himself, several other non-indigenes such as Mr. Ade Adeogun from Ekiti State, who mans the powerful Rivers State Sanitation Authority, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. David Iyofor, who hails from Delta State, are holding key positions in the Amaechi administration.”
He disclosed that “at a keenly contested election held in the State Secretariat of APC at Forces Avenue, old GRA, and Port Harcourt over the weekend, Chief Uchenna Okokoba defeated the duo of Alhaji Yusuf Tanko and Chief Williams Ubeka to emerge the interim coordinator of the Non-Indigene Group in APC Rivers.”
According to him, “in his acceptance speech, Chief Okokoba a grassroots mobiliser, declared that ‘the Non-Indigene Political Pressure Group is capable and ready to ensure that all non-indigenes in Rivers State not only join APC but also ensure that all the party’s candidates in Rivers State come the 2015 general polls win by a landslide as we account for about 40 per cent of the entire electorate in the state.”
He added: “I did it for Governor Amaechi in 2011 when we mobilised the Igbos to ensure that they voted for Governor Amaechi.”
Inaugurating the group on behalf of the Interim State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, the Interim Secretary of APC Rivers, Chief Emeka Bekee, said: “This is yet another strong signal of the doom awaiting PDP and other opposition parties during the 2015 elections.
“I assure you of the support of the governor and leadership of APC, so go out and mobilse your people to ensure that APC becomes the party to beat come 2015, seeing that Governor Amaechi recognizes and has made your people an integral part of his administration.”
Meanwhile, APC in Rivers State has concluded the harmonisation of the different groups that came together to form the party, namely the legacy party comprising the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP) in the 23 local government areas of the state.
The Interim State Chairman, APC, Dr. Davies Ikanya, charged the harmonised steering committee of each of the local government areas to “go and spread the gospel of APC to all the nooks and crannies of the state, establish the wards steering committees and mobilise Rivers people to formally register with APC come February 5th, 2014 so that we can together ensure that our common opponent (PDP) is politically dealt with in the general elections come 2015.”