Abe, Peterside Register As APC Members …‘APC On Rescue Mission’

The Senator representing Rivers South East, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe and member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro in the House of Representatives, Hon Dakuku Peterside have formally registered as members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in their various wards and local government areas.
The two National Assembly members became full members of the party last Saturday as more members and supporters turned out to formally register themselves as members of the party.
Speaking to newsmen, Senator Abe said he now has become a full member of the APC.
According to him, “I have registered as a member of the APC. So, whether a letter is read or not read on the floor of the House, I have moved away from PDP.
“As I picked up my card today, I become a member of the APC, and I cannot be a member of APC and be sitting with PDP members, because in the Senate, we sit according to our parties.
“So, I will not sit there as PDP member, and we must find a solution that will enable us sit with my colleagues and contribute to the floor. If this is not done, if I contribute, how would it be recorded? Would you say Magnus Abe, PDP-Rivers South East, when I am not PDP? It has to be recorded as Magnus Abe, APC-Rivers South East.
“A solution that will solve this problem is what the Senate needs, and that is what we are working for”, he said.
He assured that nobody was against anybody and nobody was fighting anybody, saying that “we are politicians and we will play politics”.
Also speaking shortly after he registered as a member of the APC, Hon Dakuku Peterside, said no amount of intimidation by the PDP will stop the APC from claiming Rivers State.
He said the PDP is jittery over the overwhelming crowd registering in APC in Rivers State.
According to him, it is most unfortunate that the PDP champions campaign violence against people who gave them mandate with over two million votes in Rivers State. They have been at the forefront of intimidation of the people.
He noted that democracy is a matter of choice, adding that the people cannot be intimidated for belonging to a particular political party, especially one that does not protect the interest of the people.
“Politics is a game of interest, it is clear that the PDP as presently constituted cannot protect the interest of the people and the interest of Nigerians.”
The Chairman, Board of Rivers State Sports, Charles Paul, said the turnout for the APC registration was an indication that the party was in the majority in Rivers State.
Paul said the people are on their own coming to register as members of APC, adding that people cannot be intimidated by the antics of the PDP, which goes about causing troubles.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it is targeting, at least, 800,000 out of the 1.5 million non-indigenes in the state in the party’s on-going nationwide membership registration exercise.
This was disclosed last Saturday by the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industries, Barrister Chuma Chinye, while addressing a meeting of stakeholders, state officials and 23 local government co-ordinators of the Non-Indigenes Political Forum (NIPF) of the state APC in Port Harcourt.
Barrister Chinye, who is the leader of the forum, said: “Our target in the ongoing APC membership drive is to ensure that we get 800,000 out of the 1.5m non-indigenes resident in Rivers State, and with enough commitment we can achieve that.”
Co-ordinator of the forum, Chief Uchenna Okokoba, assured the Commissioner and all the stakeholders that they will not sleep until the target of 800,000 members is achieved.
According to him, “we are embarking on the registration of non-indigenes from market-to-market starting from Ikoku, to Mile 3, to Mile 1, and Iron Market at Oyigbo. After that, we will embark on house-to-house campaign, if necessary, to achieve our target.”
Meanwhile, the NIPF has continued the mobilisation of members to register as members of the APC.
This indication was given last Saturday at the forum’s end of a crucial emergency meeting in Port Harcourt.
Highlights of the meeting were the distribution of registration materials to all the local government co-ordinators while a seven-man supervisory committee was set up to oversee and monitor the success of the exercise.
Members of the supervisory committee include, Barr. Chuma Chinye as chairman,Chief Ade Adeogun as vice chairman, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze as secretary, with David Iyofor, Chief Uchenna Okokoba, Mrs Theresa Ijede  and Alhaji Tanko Yusuf as members.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Dakuku Adol Peterside has said that the present influx of Rivers people into the All Progressives Congress (APC is driven by the need to protect the state’s natural resources which are being unjustly taken away by the Federal Government and given to other states.
Hon Peterside, who stated this shortly after registering as a member of APC in Ward 3, Unit 5 in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, said “Rivers people cannot enjoy the fundamental freedoms as guaranteed in the Constitution; including the freedom of association; the right to what is ours; the right to free movement and so on.”
The lawmaker noted that APC was on a rescue mission, adding that the party would ensure that the people do not continue to be under the type of government that represents corruption,  intimidation and misrepresents the fact that people can take away that which belongs to the state.
According to him, that is why we have left the PDP and joined the APC.
“We have opted for a platform that will galvanise our people’s aspirations; a platform that will secure our future, safeguard our commonwealth and ensure our fundamental freedoms; that is why we have wholeheartedly opted for the APC,” Peterside added.
It would be recalled that Hon Dakuku Peterside, a close ally of the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, is one of the 37 members in the House of Representatives that defected from the PDP to the APC last year.
He recounted the ordeal of Rivers people in the hands of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and said: “At the time we agitated for democracy, we did not subscribe to a repressive government; we did not subscribe to any government that will take our natural resources; we did not subscribe to corruption; we did not subscribe to oppression, intimidation and lawlessness. But that is our lot under the leadership of the present Federal Government in Nigeria”.
Former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, also registered at Ward 7, Opobo Town, and expressed delight that he has finally become a bona fide member of the APC.