Bayelsa APC Suspends Heineken Lokpobiri, David Lyon Amid Party Crisis

The Southern Ijaws and Ekeremor Local Government chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State have suspended Minister of State, Petroleum (oil) Heineken Lokpobiri and the former governorship aspirant in the state, David Lyon, from the party.

But in a swift reaction on Friday, the chieftains of the party which includes Hon. Ossom Blackson, Alex Blackson and Orubebe Ogiabiri, said Bayelsa State APC has no valid executive from the state to the ward level after a court judgement nullified the last congress. Therefore, they said the suspension of Lokpobiri and Lyon was dead on arrival.

In another development, the APC from national level has accused the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, of inciting violence.

The alleged suspension of Lokpobiri and Lyon was announced by the two executive members of the local government councils at a press briefing in Yenagoa.

According to the two council executives, both Lyon and Lokpobiri, were investigated with other members of the party and were found to be involved in anti-party activities.

Addressing journalists, the party Chairman of Ekeremor, Mr. Gbenga Ebikazi and that of Southern Ijaws, Mitin Eniekenemi, said their suspension has been transmitted to the State Executive Committee of the party for ratification.

According to chieftains of the party which includes Hon. Ossom Blackson, Alex Blackson and Orubebe Ogiabiri, the purported suspension was null, void and invalid as the suspension stems from a complete misunderstanding of the current situation within the Bayelsa chapter of the APC.

Alex Blankson, who took the party to court in 2022 after the last congress and won, said, “I filed a case in the state High Court in January 2022, challenging the legitimacy of the congress that produced the current party officials at the state, LGA, and ward levels.

“The court agreed with my arguments, and on January 20, 2023, delivered a judgment nullifying the entire party Exco. This ruling included a restraining order against these individuals from representing themselves as Chairpersons or members of the APC Exco in Bayelsa.

“1 hold a copy of this judgement, which remains valid and operational, as there has been no stay of execution. Furthermore, the individuals involved have neglected to pursue their appeal for over a year, failing to take necessary steps in the Court of Appeal.

“Therefore, these individuals have no authority to convene meetings or suspend any members of the party.”

Another chieftain of the party, Ossom Blackson, said, Bayelsa State does not have any valid Exco from the ward to the state level insisting that those calling for the suspension of Lyon and Lokpobiri does not exist.

He however called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the issue of Bayelsa State APC so that the national can work with a workable committee in the state to bring the party together.

He said after losing out, the minister started working against the party, using his supporters to institute cases in court against the party and also establishing a factional state secretariat of the party at the Isaac Boro Expressway, Biogbolo Yenagea.

Those calling for Lokpobiri suspension among other things have accused the minister of anti-party activities since the 2019 gubernatorial election when he sought to be the standard bearer of the party’s flag but the party members did not support his ambition.

Meanwhile, the accusation against Amaechi was due to a recent interview in which he blamed the youth for not protesting against hardship in the country.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, in a statement issued on Friday described Ameachi’s statement as insensitive and unpatriotic.

He said: “Amaechi’s comments are insensitive, god-awful and unpatriotic, coming from one of Nigeria’s longest serving and highest ranking political freeloaders – a two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, a two-term governor, and a two-term Minister of Transport.

“For almost all of his adult life, Amaechi has been a leechy dependent on state resources, a voracious beneficiary of official patronage, and a leading participant in the generational devastation of our country’s economy. Attempting to hoodwink Nigerians into his web of false empathy and incitement to violence is hypocritical, provocative and dangerous.

“If those in power “steal money” as Amaechi mischievously alleged, how come he can’t afford “to buy diesel” barely two years after “stealing” for over 24 years in power as speaker, governor and minister?”

Morka stressed that the only real anger that Amaechi and his fellow tribesmen of naysayers of the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, must feel is that they are not in the saddle of government today.

He said that was a decision made by Nigeria’s ultimate political authority — the electorate.

The spokesperson pointed out that Nigerians are highly perceptive, discerning, demure, and mindful that economic discomforts associated with the administration’s inevitable reforms are transient and would pale into insignificance in comparison to the enduring transformative dividends which are already beginning to manifest.

Morka maintained that Nigerians would not be cajoled into taking back through street violence what they handed to the administration through the ballot, as Amaechi and his partisan tribesmen would wish.

He added: “It is nauseating to think that these naysayer tribesmen who did absolutely nothing to improve the economy or living conditions for Nigerians while they were in office, now pontificate, endlessly, about what and how things should be done but didn’t and couldn’t do while in power.

“It’s as though they only regain their senses and discover their talents for governance when they are out of power. A tribe of naysayers, is what they are, who never see any good, only gloom, filled with bile and disdain for the determined strides of APC-administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to transform our country’s economy for the benefit of present and future generations of Nigerians.

“One would expect Amaechi to keep busy trying to solve the crippling crisis in Rivers state that he once governed. Instead, he has chosen to stoke anarchy on a national scale. Weaponising protest and exploiting citizen’s economic discomfort for selfish political objectives, as these partisan tribesmen are doing, is irresponsible and decidedly unpatriotic.”

The ruling party urged Nigerians to dismiss the call to anarchy by Amaechi and his partisan tribesmen and to remain patient and continue to support President Bola Tinubu’s bold effort to transform our country’s economy once and for all.

Olusegun Samuel and Adedayo Akinwale

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