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Tony Okocha, the leader of Rivers State’s All Progressives Congress (APC), has denied rumors that the 27 troubled members of the state House of Assembly switched from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to his party.

Okocha emphasized that the event at the Port Harcourt Polo Club in December 2023 was not a reception for the 27 lawmakers but rather a celebration of the APC’s state executive council’s constitution by the party’s national body. He claimed that he never welcomed the former lawmakers into the APC.

As you may remember, Martin Amaewhule announced at the Polo Club in December 2023 that he and 26 other parliamentarians had successfully finished the defection process.

Amaewhule went on to say that one of the main reasons they took this step was because they had proof that the PDP was divided and would make it public when the time was right.

Speaking to reporters at the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Okocha clarified that he had invited the lawmakers to the 2023 event as friends rather than as Assembly members.

“There was no intention of organizing a reception for what we were not holding. We were inaugurated in Abuja and we chose to organize a reception and thanksgiving for our members. It was not to receive the 27 lawmakers.

“We were misinterpreted to have received the 27 lawmakers into APC. That is not correct. We invited individual members of the Assembly. I have a relationship with them over time. We tried to woo them into the party. I was intentional in reaching out to them to join us. We would have counted it all joy if we had succeeded.

“We want to tell Nigerians that the 27 lawmakers led by the Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule never defected to the All Progressives Congress. What people flaunt on social media or television cannot put plausible arguments for them. The law is not about emotions. It is as strict as it is”, Okocha stated.

He accused Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara of displaying authoritarian tendencies by disobeying the court order that allowed him to re-present the 2024 budget to the House of Assembly, which was chaired by Martin Amaewhule. He claimed that Fubara is constantly violating the rule of law.

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