‘Delta APC didn’t celebrate Ibori’s return’

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it was not involved in the celebrations marking the return of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor of Delta State, after his recent release from serving a prison sentence on conviction for money laundering and corruption charges in the United Kingdom (UK). His family and political associates, friends and supporters celebrated his return to his hometown, Oghara.

But a statement by Leonard Obibi, Acting Publicity Secretary of the APC in Delta State, said: “In the course of these events, it was observed that a few of our party members who are relatives, acquaintances or former associates of Chief Ibori also took the chance to join in paying him visits which were widely publicized. Inadvertently, the media tended to play up this perspective, and in the process contrived a false impression that our party, APC Delta, may have joined in celebrating the return of Chief Ibori.

“APC Delta therefore wishes to state emphatically and put it on record that unlike the PDP which invented, fertilized and has been perpetuating corruptive tendencies in Delta State, and which for whatever reasons chose to identify with a return of one of their own, APC Delta is not affiliated in any way with these celebrations. Chief Ibori has remained the principal leader and fulcrum of the PDP political organ in Delta State that represents everything that the opposition has been combating since the inception of the current democratic dispensation.

“We also wish to reaffirm that APC Delta is repulsed by the excessive spectacle of merriment that was put on display by the PDP and its allies because it does not communicate the concerned feelings or reactions of the larger Delta society. It is a flaw of opinion and an irony of the reality on ground for anybody to link or tag Deltans in general, many of whom have continued to suffer under the yoke of the PDP to this celebration. Also, APC Delta seizes this opportunity to caution its members and notify the larger public not to drag into or associate its name with the imprudent actions of a few individuals.

“APC Delta metamorphosed from a myriad of progressive parties that have stood in opposition to the PDP since 1999, and have since its formation fought tooth and nail against the corrupted rule of the PDP in Delta State; and our party remains focused and committed to rescuing Delta State from the depravities of self-service and corruptive tendencies that drives the PDP political machinery.”