Hon Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Enyimba Achina) and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in this interview, speaks on recent Ward Congresses in Anambra State, Emergency Rule in Rivers State, and Natasha/Akpabio/National Assembly imbroglio. Excerpt:
Chief on Saturday, March 15, your party, APC, in Anambra State had the Ward Congresses to elect their delegates preparatory to the state delegate conference to choose your flag-bearer in the November 8, 2025 Governorship Election, how did it go?
Well from my own observation the congress went well, it was near perfect, because nothing is perfect, and I am happy because our party has gathered themselves together in Anambra and the southeast; so the congress went well, we are waiting for the result of the congress by publishing the list, names of delegates that were selected, either by indirect election or by consensus, depending on what a particular ward, because out of the 326 wards in Anambra State, it is the pattern that suits you, is what they adopted, like in my own ward, the INEC monitored it, and I believe it is the same thing all over. So it was very seamless, very peaceful, and we hope we are getting there and we hope that the forthcoming primary on April 4, will also be very seamless.
There were reports that the exercise was marred by irregularities in some wards, are you aware?
Where and where, did they mention the areas? Well I cannot dismiss it, but I cannot accept it; alI I know is that the exercise was very seamless, after all, in any human endeavor, no human endeavor is perfect, so if there was pockets of irregularities in one or two areas, as you said, it doesn’t mean the exercise was not successful. That is much that I can say.
Let us go to Rivers State
Mark you that I am not from Rivers State
Okay tell us, as a chieftain of APC, how you see the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State, then narrow it down to the roles played by Nyesom Wike, Siminilaye Fubara, the Governor and President Tinubu in all this Rivers affair.
First of all I told you, I am not from Rivers and there is a difference between being a chieftain of APC and being member of PDP. The problem in Rivers State is PDP problem, not APC problem, I think that is clear. However, as a Nigerian that is looking at the issue from far, the other day I told the press that one thing that I observe is that Rivers people follow legitimate means to solve all their political problems devoid of rancor and violence, which is the hallmark of democracy, and that system has continued till now.
Well I am not here to blame Fubara, or blame Wike, or whoever, but it is very very commendable and interesting that the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, waded in at the time things were to go very bad in Rivers State, that is the most important thing. I don’t know the Genesis of the problem, but like you said, the president, ab initio, called for a truce, and they reached an understanding and signed what I may call, Memorandum of Resolution. I am not a lawyer, but I feel comfortable to use that word, where I feel, the President acted as a witness, because he was resolving the problem within the political actors in Rivers State, but for whatever reason, that resolution was not actualized or implemented, and things started going bad.
Yes some people are saying that the president should have done that, the president shouldn’t have done this, but they are the same people that have been calling the president to come in and stop this nonsense. You see, we have a lot of problems in this country. Mark you that ordinarily the president doesn’t have to go into the affairs of PDP, but because he is the president of everybody, the president of Nigeria, both PDP, Labour, and what have you, that is why they dragged him into that squabble, now that he has waded in, to say, Fubara hold on, members of the state house of assembly, hold on for six months, and called an external person, a non-politician to come in to look at the affairs of Rivers State for six months, and people started talking, quoting every section of the constitution, making one interpretation or the other. I listen to so many lawyers at variants with their interpretations; I begin to wonder where we are heading to. If the president has stayed away, they would have called him all sorts of names, now, he came in to say, supposing he allowed the House to impeach Fubara, it would have been the worst thing for the Governor, but the president provided a free level ground for both parties.
So this is a period of deep reflection for both the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and for the governor, because the president said suspended, he didn’t say expelled, he didn’t say removed. He said suspended for the initial six months, so that the sole administrator will look at the affairs of the state. And when you listen to the Attorney General of the Federation, in his explanation, I don’t see why people are blaming the president. A friend of mine called me and said that what the president did in Rivers State is the highest level of rascality and all that, I responded and say, Oga, what did the president do? The man started talking from pillar to post. You see, in politics you must not get everything right, you must not win everything, but one thing that gives me consolation is that the president said he is prepared for attacks, he is prepared for blackmail, he is prepared for betrayal, he is prepared for disappointments, so this is the terrain he knows very well, and I congratulate him for quenching the fire in Rivers State, otherwise by now you would have seen violence, blowing of oil pipelines and destruction of national assets. So the president saw the thing coming and quenched it on time, so that everyone will come to a roundtable to resolve the problem, which is what Rivers State is known for; they follow the part of law and we are still on the part of law.
Okay, now, a piece of advice for each party, advice for Wike, Fubara and for the president
Well, Fubara is a creation of Wike, whether anybody likes it or not, Fubara should know that. Then Wike should know that Fubara is his son, whether anybody likes it or not. My advice is for two of them alone, forget about the supporters here and there. Before they muted the idea of Fubara becoming the governor, for which Wike worked assiduously to see that it was achieved, they were together, so, just like husband and wife having problem, then you see third parties coming into the matter, Wike should leave third party, Fubara should leave third party, two of them alone will solve this problem, then come and make a joint statement that the problem is solved, we don’t want to know how it was solved at least for the interest of the good citizens of Rivers State, that is my advice to them.
On the disturbing relationship between the Senate President, the Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, what is your take?
I am not a member of the National Assembly, and all the members of the National Assembly; I respect them, for performing their national assignment. However there is bound to be disagreement. If they are having agreement at all times, that means they are not working. There must be divergent views and all that. Be that as it may, I have not personally heard from Akpabio or Natasha, and the people or the institution that supposed to handle this, however, the matter is already in court, a court of competent jurisdiction. So I don’t want to start going into those things now, let us allow the court to handle that, and allow the national assembly to do their work. So my answer to your question is that the matter is before the court.
But Natasha was suspended when the matter was already in court
According to what I read on newspapers and social media, she was suspended because, I think, she violated national assembly rules; that is what I heard. But the court has not made any pronouncement, I am not a member of the national assembly, so I don’t want to start arguing whether national assembly handled the matter rightly or wrongly since that matter is before a court of competent jurisdiction. So let the court exonerate Natasha or Akpabio, but in all, I urge the national assembly to please, concentrate on more national issues for the benefit of all Nigerians. They should not allow distractions. Certain things should be nipped in the bud. The Natasha and Akpabio matter is one of those issues that should have been nipped in the bud within themselves so that they can concentrate on national assignment.