APC members must be ashamed of the party’s failure to tackle insecurity —Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday hit hard at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying its members must be ashamed of the party’s performance, especially in the area of insecurity.

Wike, who declared that nobody would be proud to be called an APC member, also chastised the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), adding that insecurity had worsened and the economy has collapsed under the watch of the ruling party.

A statement by Wike’s Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, qouted the governor as saying these when he led his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, to open the Woji and Obagi roads in GRA Phase 2, Obio Akpor Local Government Area.

Wike said it was ironic for the APC governors to keep admitting worsening insecurity without accepting the failure of their party, adding that the Federal Government under APC promised to offer better governance but has failed woefully on all indices.

The governor said: “I hear the Progressives Governors Forum saying that there is insecurity. Who is responsible? They should come out openly and say that the party in power has failed.

“Nigerians gave a mandate to APC at the Federal Government level and therefore, they must own up that they have failed Nigerians.

“Everything has collapsed in the country. Security has collapsed. The economy has collapsed. Nothing is working in the country. Today, all over Nigeria, there is insecurity everywhere.

“The other day, in Katsina State, they took about 400. The next day, they said they took 84. Now again they said they’ve taken a village head, the wife and 14 people in Katsina State.

“When there was a problem in this state, about the level of kidnapping, I shouted but nobody listened to us. They said it was politics and that we were killing APC people.

“I said when you introduce politics to security the consequences will be great.

Read also: Wike dismisses report on Ortom’s planned switch to APC

“Now, it is everywhere. Until they come to apologise to Rivers State for what they have done to us, then God will not forgive all of them.”

The governor said he had not disappointed Rivers people, who gave him their mandate to improve the quality of living, infrastructure and guarantee the security of life and property, adding that he was not tired serving the state and that after his tenure, he would walk freely on the streets.

Governor Makinde, while speaking during the visit to Wike, said with the evidence of Wike’s performance, it would be difficult to convince Rivers people to abandon PDP for another party.

He said: “Indeed, all right-minded people like to identify with progress irrespective of their personal feeling towards the initiator.

“Development is a big part of our democracy and every project counts towards the overall progress of the nation.

“We are blessed to be leaders at this point of Nigeria’s history where there seems to be a reawakening of political consciousness, especially among the young people.

“True, we have a unique privilege of grooming a new crop of people who will see governance as service.

“We have remained too long in where people see public coffers as an extension of their accounts.

“At the next circle of election in 2023, Nigerians will show that they have learnt something from the event of 2020 and that electoral decisions have consequences.”

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