APC’s Rising Profile In Rivers State And DLB’s Quest For Rivers Brick House

The recent House of Assembly rerun and the gale of defections that has exposed the eroding fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in Rivers state has signified the readiness of the All Progressives Congress APC to take over the Rivers state Brick House come 2019.

Already there is palpable tension within the fold of the PDP not with the paranoia of the state governor Barr. Nyesom Wike who like a drowning man, is holding unto whatever he can in order to paint the APC and its leader Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike in bad light.

As Rivers people continue to move to the APC in droves, what has been the motivating factor is the body language of the APC and its apparatchik which continuously suggests that the party is keen at ensuring that the riverine people of the state especially the Kalabari people gets the shot for the governorship position come 2019.

The Kalabaris despite the sacrifice they have made for the PDP since its creation in 1998 have been relegated to the background especially during the build up to the 2015 governorship primaries where despite the array of aspirants that vied for the position, the present governor manipulated himself and claimed the flag of the party thereby emerging as the governor of the state.

Rivers people have since regretted the emergence of Nyesom Wike as governor which has led to the gale of defections in the state. Right now the clamour is for the Kalabaris to take over the state.

As the struggle continues, one governorship candidate whose name has continuously crop up in the lips of the people is that of Chief Barr. Dumo Lulu Briggs. Chief Briggs is the son of a former Deputy National Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria NPN.

He has also contested as governor of the state and in such occasions has created a very strong impact which has endeared him to the people of the state.

It is not therefore, out of place to be witnessing the kind of goodwill which he is today receiving from not only the members of the party in the state but by the generality of Rivers people.

Rivers state has suffered so much under some politicians that do not mean well for the state. The present governor of the state through his lack of good administrative acumen and responsiveness to the people has performed so poorly that the need to bring in somebody that can make a difference has become the anthem of the day.

Dumo Lulu Briggs in this circumstance stands out because of the way the people view him as a pragmatic leader that has the sagacity and commitment to key into the change perspective of the party and that of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Aside the sentiment of power moving to the riverine area of the state, Dumo Lulu Briggs has the pedigree, commitment, zeal, loyalty and humaneness to move the state forward.

Unlike some politicians who have shown desperation for the Brick House Port Harcourt and whose ambition have blinded their sense of loyalty to the party and its leadership under the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Chief Briggs has rather shown a strong sense of loyalty to the party and its leadership mobilising his supporters to stand by the party and its rightful leadership in the state.

I read with all sense of disappointment an article in the Guardian Newspaper of Monday 20th August 2018 and must stress that the author of the article clearly showed that he was out of tune with the reality on ground in Rivers state when he said that ‘Dumo is not considered a threat to Wike who has a formidable PDP bloc in his home base, Abonnema’.

I really do not understand the yardstick which the author used in making his analysis on Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs but one thing the author like other arm chair analysts fail to realise is that the level of support which Dumo has in Abonnema and other parts of Kalabari land and Rivers state in general is enormous and is more than that of the governor who is losing popularity by the day. My position on Chief Briggs is not borne out of sycophancy but out of realism.

This is not the first time this young Rivers son with attraction for growth and development of our state based on creativity, intellectualism and versatility will be gunning for the position of governor of the state but it remains to be contradicted that this is the first time his quest for the post will be receiving the sort of support and acceptability

it is getting across the state due to what some political watchers ( not the ilk of the Guardian analysts though) and observers have termed the maturation of his quest to rule the state.

I am from the Ogba axis of the state and will state unequivocally that Dumo’s popularity rings a bell in the area as it does in Ekpeye land, Abua and other parts of Orashi land even as it clearly does in other parts of the state.

If today he gets the nod of the party to contest which we anticipate he will get, he will surely put those that thinks otherwise in utter disappointment and shame.

In the coming days, the party will go into primaries to determine its flag bearer and as it does so, we believe strongly that the need to chose the most suitable candidate for the job based on experience, charisma, acceptability and loyalty to the collective interest of the people will be paramount factor and when it does come to that point,

the choice of Chief Barr. Dumo Lulu Briggs will expectedly, be hugely accepted by the people of the state and such acceptability will be shown in the booting out of the contraption in the Rivers State Brick House for good by the majority of Rivers people.