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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has condemned the recent remarks made by Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), directed at President Bola Tinubu, describing them as “treasonable felony”.
The Rivers APC also called on the Federal Government to adopt a firm stance against the activist. It urged Nigerians to disregard what it termed as the tactics of individuals “desiring to rub the integrity of the country in the mud,” instead of entertaining the utterances of “a serial merchant of discord and purveyor of half-truths.”
In a statement released in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the Rivers State APC Chairman, Tony Okocha, said that making false accusations to tarnish the reputation of others is “unacceptable.”
He further stated that “attempting to incite Nigerians against the government with the crudity of style is treasonable felony,” emphasising that “any action capable of undermining public trust and threatening Nigeria’s democracy, stemming from malice, is unacceptable.”
Sowore had recently referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused Wike of using public funds to purchase houses in Florida, United States.
In response, Okocha remarked: “In every democracy, criticism is welcome, but what Nigerians must reject are deliberate lies, propaganda, and attempts to defame under the disguise of ‘activism’.”
He added: “This is exactly what Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, has perfected over the years. Sowore has built his entire career on lies. His platform is notorious for publishing fabricated stories and half-truths, often used as tools for blackmail and extortion.”
Okocha described the accusations as “nothing more than the bitter rantings of a man rejected by Nigerians at the polls and drowning in political irrelevance,” and questioned “why a sane citizen of a country can refer to the highest office holder as a ‘criminal’.”
He pointed out that the Nigerian Police had recently charged Sowore with forgery and false publication over a purported fake police signal. According to him, “This is not activism. It is outright criminality.”
Okocha also noted that “Sowore currently stands trial for cybercrime and defamation,” referencing charges filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) accusing him of disseminating false and provocative messages about Tinubu on social media platforms.
He argued that Sowore’s behaviour was intended to “incite public unrest and destabilising Nigeria,” and therefore rendered him unfit to criticise national leaders.
Okocha went on to reference the #RevolutionNow protests in 2019, which he characterised as “an attempted insurrection” rather than a legitimate activist movement. He added, “No genuine democrat calls for the violent overthrow of a legitimate government.”
The APC chairman maintained that Sowore’s allegations against Tinubu and Wike amounted to blackmail. He said, “Provide cogent and verifiable facts leading to certain apodictic conclusions and we join to escalate it to high heavens.”
While highlighting the accomplishments of President Tinubu and Minister Wike, Okocha urged Nigerians to concentrate on the evident development underway.
He stated, “President Tinubu is implementing his 10-point agenda under the theme ‘Renewed Hope Agenda.’ The economy is booming! Never in the history of Nigeria had over a trillion naira been shared by the three tiers of government. Naira now wields influence and stabilized against the hitherto doldrums before the Dollar and other hard currencies.”
He concluded, “Road infrastructure is verifiable. The trillion-naira Lagos/Calabar expressway, which pundits like Sowore dismissed as a well-nigh impossibility, is on the fast track. The blind can see it,” the party added.
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