•Vows to win all 23 councils
Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt
The All Progressive Congress, APC, on Thursday flagged-off it’s campaign ahead of the August 30, 2025 local government elections in Rivers State.
The campaign flag-off which held at Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in Port Harcourt saw the state party Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha present flags to all local government chairmanship candidates and their vice for the election.
Addressing the mammoth crowd, Tony Okocha said the APC is committed to winning all 23 chairmanship positions and councilorship positions in the 319 wards of the state.
Okocha, who commended members of the party for standing united in the bid to lift the APC onto a place of pride in Rivers politics, said, “What we are doing (today) is a ritual because every system has its processes.
“A lot of you have been itching to go to the field and begin to campaign. Now, as soon as this is consummated, you are free to go to all the nooks and crannies of the 23 local government areas and the 319 walls and campaign,” he said.
He recalled that, “Some time ago (October 5th 2024), there was something that was a charade. APC said we were not going to participate, and we didn’t participate. We assured them that it will go to no issue. It will not work. Did it work? No!
“Today, we are bold, we are happy, we are excited to stand before you to tell you that because the processes are right, the processes put in place by RISEC are right. We are here to support, to follow those processes. Our people have been screened, our people have been declared candidates as chairmen and the councillors.
“Let me seize this opportunity again to congratulate my friends, the chairmen-elect and their deputies. I also congratulate the councillors-elect and their deputies. The primaries were seamless. You didn’t hear anybody fight? Because we are an organized political party, we are saying to you, that everything is put in place.
“Now, we are not just going to test the waters. APC, we are not going to test the waters on the 30th of August. We are going to contest elections and win the elections. We are going there to contest this election to win the twenty-three local government areas and to win the 319 wards in Rivers State,” Okocha said.
He alluded to “a marriage of politicians in Rivers State, weaved together by a son of the soil. A politician of no mere repute. A prodigious politician that is well known in Nigeria. That gentleman has been able to win the election.
“That gentleman has been able to weave together all politicians, progressive ones for that matter, together under the umbrella, not the PDP umbrella, under the umbrella of Renewed Hope 2025,” he said.
The APC’s National Vice Chairman (South South), Chief Victor Giadom, represented by Senator Magnus Abe, noted unity and cohesion had been achieved in the party under the leadership of Tony Okocha.
He declared that any other persons claiming to be leaders of the party in the state are doing so illegally.
He said, “Rivers State is united. We are coming together as one, and everybody who has the interest of River State is on board. Anybody who is not on board, going around the television stations to declare themselves as leaders of this party are wasting their time.
“We are together and we are moving. Everybody in Rivers State is welcome to join the APC. Let us work together with the current chairman to deliver the dividends of democracy to the grassroots,” he said.
Former Nigerian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Belize Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Mrs. Maureen Tamuno, hailed this push to integrate women into political and governance structures.
She said that, “the women of Rivers State are united in one voice. We are committed to the fear of God that has brought about the unity and the peace that we enjoy today in Rivers State.
“We want to assure you that as women, that are grassroots-rooted, when it is time, we will definitely deliver the dividends of democracy. So that at the end of the day, River State will begin to enjoy the Renewed Hope of Mr President,” she said.
