BY BEN OGBEMUDIA
A former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party, nPDP, and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has advised some people he described as idle youths of Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State, to learn relevant skills to improve their lives.
Eze wondered why the youths, instead of seeking ways to better their lives, take up the task of disparaging political leaders from the state.
The youths had been campaigning for the APC in the Ikwerre Local Government Area ahead of the planned local government election.
During the campaign they were quoted as saying that former governors Rotimi Amaechi and Celestine Omehia, who are from the area, will be retired from active politics after the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the development in a statement released on Wednesday, Eze described the comment as “the ranting of vulnerable adults with zero basic life skills and valueless living, who should be concerned about getting relevant skills to earn meaningful living rather than accepting briefs to smear the images of these illustrious Nigerians whose marks in the sands of time have remained permanently engraved on the hearts of people”.
He stressed that the local government election scheduled for August 30 is not only unlawful but also an embarrassment on recognized rules established to guide the conduct of elections in Nigeria and a slap on the power of the majority of the people.
Assuring that the planned local council election will be set aside in the fullness of time given the multitude of blunders and non-compliance with extant rules, Eze urged Rivers people to continue to distance themselves from the poll, noting that Nigerian courts are already on the rescue with the floodgate of suits challenging the “odious illegality”.
He called on the rampaging young men parading as APC members to be “careful of deliberate reckless misstatements with no intent and value safe to disparage personalities like Celestine Omehia and particularly Chibuike Amaechi who contributed in building the APC on the sincere footing of driving a change in our body-polity even though the party has today, derailed from its foundational mandate to becoming a disappointing nightmare for Nigerians having been over-ran by political bandits and buccaneers”.