Governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Rivers State, Hon. Kingsley Chinda and Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, have defined their absence from the Rivers 2027 Citizens’ Charter of Demands, with the APC questioning the organisers’ invitation course of and the NDC citing a conflicting rally in Bayelsa State.
The occasion, held in Port Harcourt, was organised by the Rivers Peace Initiative to encourage governorship candidates to decide to prioritising the wants of residents if elected in 2027.
Five governorship candidates attended the occasion: Dr. Gabriel Pidomson of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Barrister Ivy West of the African Action Congress (AAC), Rev. Minaibim Harry of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Professor Ben John of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Chief Nature Kieghe of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP).
The absence of Chinda and Lulu-Briggs, who’re considered frontline contenders within the 2027 governorship election, had continued to generate issues.
However, the APC spokesman in Rivers State, Hon. Chibike Ikenga, instructed LEADERSHIP that the celebration’s governorship candidate was not invited to the occasion.
“Besides, did they send an invitation to our governorship candidate? Was he favourably disposed to the date they chose? What were the issues to be discussed and who were the organisers? So, there are a whole lot of questions and until those questions are answered,” he mentioned.
Ikenga additionally questioned whether or not the organisers adequately represented the pursuits of Rivers residents, arguing that the state’s inhabitants and variety of registered voters had been far higher than the membership of the group behind the initiative.
“By the way, who are the Rivers citizens? Rivers citizens and those who stay in Rivers State are over seven million people and over three million voters. So, those are people concerned. After all, all of us should be testing our popularity in the next few days. Not an organisation that is just about five or six persons. So these are some of the issues that must be addressed,” he mentioned.
Also talking with LEADERSHIP, Oby Ndukwe, an ally of the APC governorship candidate, mentioned she didn’t know whether or not Chinda had obtained an invite.
She argued that the constitution was not binding on the candidates or the individuals of the state, including that voters would in the end decide who ought to govern Rivers State by the poll.
“I don’t know if he was invited and if he acknowledged the invitation with a response to be present at the ceremony. Personally, I only heard of the event after the programme,” she mentioned.
Ndukwe cautioned towards deciphering Chinda’s absence as a rejection of the calls for of Rivers residents, describing the gathering as an initiative by a bunch quite than a programme representing all the state.
“When we say Rivers people may read meaning into his absence, it makes it look like it was a programme or a demand by Rivers people. It was just a group and it also is not binding on the candidates. The people’s mandate through the ballot is what is binding on the candidates and not a private or sectorial group making demands,” she mentioned.
She maintained that voters would resolve based mostly on candidates’ engagements with communities, city corridor conferences and campaigns, the place they may assess their plans and dedication to assembly the individuals’s wants.
“Rivers individuals will give their mandate to the candidate they consider would prioritise their wants coming from the engagements, city halls and campaigns, the candidates will hear from the individuals and converse to them.
“These would determine where the people would entrust their votes. It’s not from signing any accord. That may be part of democracy but not the determinant factor for any winner to meet the demands of the people,” Ndukwe mentioned.
She added that she believed the APC governorship candidate was participating stakeholders by city corridor conferences in numerous communities.
On his half, the spokesman of the NDC marketing campaign council in Rivers State, Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, mentioned Lulu-Briggs couldn’t attend due to a conflicting political engagement in Bayelsa State.
He defined that the celebration’s rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, happened on the identical day because the Rivers occasion.
“I remember that our friend Alwell Ene brought an invitation letter. Unfortunately, the NDC Yenagoa rally on the same day took our attention. We are sorry about it,” Ijuye-Dagogo mentioned.
However, the convener of the Rivers Peace Initiative, Obinna Ebogidi, confirmed that invites had been despatched to all governorship candidates within the state, together with Chinda and Lulu-Briggs.
Ebogidi mentioned Lulu-Briggs had a celebration occasion scheduled for a similar Friday and that the organisers had tried to influence him to ship his deputy, however he declined.
He additionally mentioned the organisers made a number of makes an attempt to safe Chinda’s attendance, each straight and thru contacts within the Coalition, however obtained no official response.
“Yes we did. Dumo had a party event fixed for Friday. We tried to get him to send his deputy, he declined. We made several entreaties to Chinda, directly and through notable contact in the Coalition, but he didn’t give any official response. He was the one we spent the most energy trying to get,” Ebogidi mentioned.
He added that the organisers hoped to rearrange separate ceremonies for the 2 candidates to allow them to have interaction with the constitution.
“Because of the importance of the charter, we are hoping to have private individual ceremonies for them. The charter is so critical for the governance future of the state,” he mentioned.
