Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has stated that the withdrawal of the party’s National Legal Adviser, Henry Bello, from the matter before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, is inconsequential and of no adverse effect on the case of Pastor Tonye Cole and other candidates of the party who are in court to challenge the March 18, 2023, polls.
News had filtered-in two days ago that Bello had been abjured from the case and his withdrawal signals a pitfall for the party and its candidates at the tribunal.
It was also rumored that the development is not unconnected to the unholy romance, political dialogues and deals between the President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and outgoing Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, targeted against the party in the state to undermine and degrade former Transportation Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi.
Reacting to the development in a statement made available to media houses, Chief Eze alleged that Bello had struck a deal with Gov. Nyesom Wike in an underhand attempt to frustrate the party’s cases at the tribunal, particularly the governorship, in a bid to sway the court to validate the electoral heist of March 18, 2023, jointly perpetrated by INEC, Gov. Wike, the Police and some groups of armed thugs.
He urged party faithful in Rivers state not to be dismayed over the news of the withdrawal of the party’s National Legal Adviser.
He said; ”A stealth peek into the surreptitious affair of Bello and Wike revealed a strong and deliberate attempt to hamper the steady progress recorded by the party and its candidates at the tribunal in a bid to subvert the will of justice. Revelation informed the decision by the national leadership of the party to relieve Mr. Henry Bello, the National Legal Adviser of the party, of his official roles in the matters of the Rivers APC at the tribunal in the interest of justice.
”Tinubu owes Wike nothing so far the 2023 general elections is concerned as Wike never worked for Tinubu but worked for his own selfish agenda to stay afloat from his drowning state as a party less political leader. Time will surely teach him the foolishness in his style of politics even as he has been listed amongst those to be banned by the USA Government in securing VISA to visit America”, he added.
Commending the APC National Secretariat for acting promptly to save the tribunal cases from Bello’s double-dealing, Eze said it smacks of gross misconduct for a national officer of a party in the status of a legal adviser to engage in actions that run in diametric contradiction to the party’s legitimate quest to pursue justice.
He called on the party not to end at merely relieving him of his roles in the Rivers APC tribunal case, but to go a step further to deal with him as a sabotage in line constitution of the APC.
Eze however expressed disappointment over the unchecked desperation of Gov. Wike to again deploy the scarce resources of the state on alleged kickbacks to legitimize the illegitimate victory he claims over March 18 Governorship and state Assembly election in the state.
The party chieftain called on the teeming supporters of Rivers APC and the entire Rivers people to continue in praise to the God of Justice until the mandate freely and willfully given to Tonye Cole and other candidates of the party during the 2023 elections, by Rivers electorates are restored through the instrumentality of the courts.
