Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi this morning formally registered as a card-carrying member of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). He registered at about 11am in his native Ubima at Ward 8, Unit 14, in Ikwerre Local Government Area.

Shortly after arriving Ubima, Governor Amaechi and his wife Dame Judith Amaechi proceeded to the registration booth where an APC registration official on duty screened and registered them as card-carrying members of the party.

Addressing journalists after the registration, Amaechi declared that APC is on a rescue mission in both Rivers State and Nigeria.

He slammed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for having ruined the country for the number of years it had been in power, pledging that the APC would deliver an alternative leadership that would promote speedy progress and create job opportunities for the people.

Amaechi said: “From what you can see, APC is the fastest-growing party in Africa. All these people you are seeing here were once members of PDP; today they joined me in formally moving to APC and the reason for moving to APC is that we are on a rescue mission.

“We are here to rescue Nigeria. We can’t continue (like this). Look at this crowd you are seeing here, 80 per cent of them are unemployed and so when they say PDP will save Nigeria, we ask the question, who has been holding Nigeria for the past how many years? It’s PDP, so they can’t be saving Nigeria from themselves.

“We are here to save Nigeria from PDP and when we do that we will try and create an employment opportunity for the army of unemployed Nigerians because you must generate and grow the economy. The economy currently is not growing. The rate of unemployment, the rate of corruption, the money lost to corruption if applied to the economy, if applied to industrial development, will create employment opportunities for the unemployed. So, the basic thing you will see that will happen is that with this change, with this movement from PDP to APC and the crowd we are going with, when we start to defeat them in Rivers State, we will defeat them in the country and the moment we defeat them, the money we will save from corruption is the money we will use in improving the lives of these people.”

Amaechi also denounced the recent attacks by hoodlums on APC supporters who had gathered for the party’s ongoing membership registration exercise in Degema, Akuku-Toru and Obio/Akpor local government areas.

He said despite the snag, the APC party in the state would go on with the party membership registration again in those affected LGAs, disclosing that he had consulted the party’s national leadership on the issue.

The governor’s words: “I hear there were crisis in Degema, Akuku-Toru, Obio/Akpor. The PDP is scared, they are worried. They are saying the governor moves without anybody, if I didn’t move with anybody, at least I move with my wife (laughs). If they say we didn’t move with anybody, why are they fighting? Why are they shooting gun?

“We will ensure that we resist the violence that they are bringing. We have directed that all those local governments must go back for fresh registration. I have requested from the national secretariat of APC to allow us few more days to enable those local government areas where they have forestalled registration for registration to take place, that will happen.”

Amaechi expressed the need for political players in the country to guarantee the right of all Nigerians to make their choices and express their views in a democratic Nigeria.

According to him, “We are saying that we are in a democracy and because we are in a democracy people be allowed to express their views and their choice.”

Among those who accompanied the governor to Ubima for the registration exercise were the State Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru, APC interim State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, Hon. Igo Igoma (former member, House of Representatives), and Dr. Sam Jaja, among others.

•Photo shows Governor Amaechi and wife Dame Judith displaying their APC membership slips shortly after registration . . . today at Ubima, Rivers State.

Update news