Delta State APC Condemns Celebration Of Ibori’s Return

The Delta state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has

condemned the celebration of the return of former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, from the United Kingdom after serving a jail term.

The party, in a statement made available in Warri on Sunday

by its acting Publicity Secretary, Leonard Obibi, also dissociated itself

from the party-like reception accorded the former governor, saying it was

not affiliated with in any way.

The APC said it was repulsed by the huge merriment that had

been displayed by Ibori’s followers, noting that it had rather

compounded the feeling of hurt imposed on the people of the state by the

over 17 years of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rule in the state.

“The return of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, a former PDP Governor of Delta

State, after his recent release from serving a prison sentence on

conviction for money laundering and corruption charges, and upon his

deportation from the United Kingdom (UK), has seen his family and motley of

his PDP political associates, friends and supporters (many of them

self-serving) celebrating his return to his home town in Delta State.

“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 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”, the statement said.