Peterside, Wonodi, Akarolo Hail APC LG Congress In Rivers

The member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,  Rep. Dakuku Peterside, (APC-Rivers), yesterday, expressed satisfaction with the successful conduct of the All Progressives Party (APC) local government congress across the 23 local government areas in Rivers State.
Peterside, told newsmen in Port Harcourt, that the massive turnout of party faithful was an indication of its acceptability by the people of the state.
He said the congresses held in Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro local governments elected credible officials who would run the party’s affairs credibly.
“The congress held in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government was very successful, the people were well organised, very enthusiastic, and at the end of the day, officers were elected.
“We believe that with permanent structures in place, it will give the party direction and deepen its presence in the local government area,” he said.
Peterside said with the conclusion of the local government congress, the party was now prepared for the general election.
“We have done our research, and I can tell you that empirical evidence that we have indicates that APC will win all elections in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government,” Peterside added.
In Port Harcourt, the congress started at about 3.00p.m.
Speaking with The Tide in an interview, Rivers State Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Owene Wonodi, said APC needed to put its structure from the ward to the national levels in place to prepare for the 2015 elections.
“I consider our congress as a move in the right direction. The party’s congress at all levels is good for democracy.
“What is happening in Rivers State is really great. Our people embraced APC to ensure change and move the country forward”, Wonodi said.
Also speaking, Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, Mr Chimbiko Akarolo, said the party’s congresses had been a huge success.
“Being a new party, we want to build a strong foundation for the party and one way of doing this is to have a strong internal democracy.
“The party needs capable hands to move it forward and prepare for the task ahead.”
Akarolo said the APC in Rivers State was one family, which was determined to do well in the 2015 elections.
Meanwhile, the local government congress of All Progressives Congress (APC) scheduled for Saturday kicked off in only few states with many postponing theirs.
In Taraba, the congress was postponed to today.
Chairman of Taraba State Congress Committee of APC, Mr Yahaya Duku, who announced this at a news conference in Jalingo on Saturday, said that the postponement was due to the inability of the committee to obtain ballot papers from the party’s headquarter in Abuja.
The chairman explained that it was better to wait and get the right ballot papers to conduct a free, fair and credible congress on Monday.
Duku noted that apart from ballot papers, the committee was also facing insecurity and difficult terrains in some local government councils.
Similarly, the congress was postponed indefinitely in Bauchi State.
Chairman, Bauchi State Congress Committee for the state, Dr Almajir Gaidam, told newsmen that a new date would be announced in due course.
Gaidam said the committee would ensure that appropriate measures were put in place for successful conduct of the local government congress.
He urged party members to remain loyal and continue to put their trust in APC, “the only party that would liberate the masses from the shackles of poverty.”
Also in Adamawa State, the party suspended the congress in state.
The Secretary of state Congress Monitoring Committee, Dr Danjuma Dabo, said in Yola, the state capital, that the congress had been shifted to tomorrow.
Dabo said the problem of logistics and complaints that followed Wednesday’s ward congress in the state were responsible for the shift.
Dabo added that the shift became necessary to give room for complaints to be resolved amicably for a smooth local government congress.
In Kano, the APC Congresses Supervising Committee shifted the congress to April 17.
The Chairman of the Committee in the state, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, said in Kano on Saturday that the decision was to allow interested people to purchase the nomination forms.
He expressed the hope that people would make the best use of the opportunity to submit their completed forms in time for the committee to process and display the list of candidates.
The party’s ward congress is being conducted across the 484 wards of the state.
In Makurdi, officials of the Benue state chapter of the party said they had not received materials to conduct the local government congress.
The state Interim Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Philip Anza, told newsmen that the congress had been rescheduled for April 16.
He appealed to party members to exercise patience and come out en masse for the local government congress.
The APC has also postponed the congress in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to April 15.
The Chairman, Congress Committee of the FCT, Alhaji Abubakar Wurno, made this known in a telephone interview with newsmen on Saturday in Abuja.
Wurno explained that the congress was postponed in order to enable the committee to conduct ward congress in Kabusa Ward to avoid disenfranchising over 200 delegates.
The chairman, however, said that the congress was going on across five area councils in the FCT as earlier scheduled by the party.