The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has branded Deputy Governor of the state, Tele Ikuru the modern Judas, who is willing to sell his master for material gain.

The party, in a statement issued Sunday afternoon in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, lambasted Engr. Tele Ikuru for his unprovoked attack on Governor Chibuike Amaechi, a man who picked him from the gutter and made him whom he has become politically.

“We read with shock the description of Governor Amaechi as ‘irresponsible’ by Engr. Tele Ikuru during his ill-fated press conference in Port Harcourt few days ago, which he addressed in his new capacity as the Chairman of the Transition Committee set up by Chief Nyesome Wike, the INEC-declared Governor of Rivers State.

“It is sad that after serving as Amaechi’s Deputy for over seven years, Ikuru, who several times in the past described Gov. Amaechi as the Hero of Rivers politics and the best political exponent from the state, is suddenly singing a different tune. This is the height of ingratitude and paints Ikuru in his true colours as a Judas, who is ever ready to sell his master for mundane gain,” Rivers APC said.

The party described Ikuru’s attack on Amaechi as unwarranted, saying: “Amaechi’s love for Ikuru is legendary. He chose him as his Deputy despite Ikuru having teamed up with Sir Celestine Omehia and others to frustrate Amaechi’s governorship ambition during the ill-fated PDP Primaries of 2007.

“With God’s intervention the Supreme Court in its wisdom revalidated Amaechi’s mandate as the authentic PDP guber candidate, thus making him the governor.

“In 2011, against the advice of many well-meaning Rivers people, Amaechi went ahead to again select Ikuru as his running mate as he successfully sought re-election. It is also instructive that Governor Amaechi has refrained from either speaking ill of Engr. Ikuru or engineering his removal as Deputy Governor despite his defection from APC to the opposition PDP shortly before the 2015 elections.

“For Ikuru to now have the effrontery to describe his benefactor, a fellow who loves him with all his heart and who on various occasions left the running of Rivers State in his care, as a disgraceful leader does not only show him as an ingrate of the highest order but also indicates that Engr. Ikuru may need to subject himself to psychiatric tests,” he said.

Rivers APC said while it is understandable for Ikuru to be tempted to engage in excesses in view of Wike’s promise to appoint him as the Secretary to State Government (SSG), he should tread with caution, especially as the declaration of Wike as Governor would soon be reversed by the Election Petition Tribunal.

The party congratulated the gubernatorial candidates of KOWA party, Mr. Kemka Elenwo; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Charles Harry; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Minaibim Harry; and Labour Party (LP), Prince Tonye Princewill, for joining APC’s governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to challenge Wike’s purported election at the Election Petition Tribunal.

“With the evidences adduced by all these great Rivers State leaders, we are confident that bloodthirsty desperados who believe that they can seize the governorship seat by hook or crook will soon be put to shame and showed the exit door by the Tribunal,” Rivers APC stated.

•Photo shows Ikanya.

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