Eno U. Inah|31 July 2016
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs; Pst Usani Usani is Responsible for the Dwindling Fortunes of APC in CRS -Capt Eno U. Inah (Rtd)
Since he was named the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani had made statements in the public domain, which are distorted and quite misleading. I have personally tried to overlook his lies on the status and current rating of APC CRS, only for him to shock me out of lethargy with further disingenuous misrepresentations of the facts in issue in the press.
To drive the point straight, permit me to refer to his interview at page 42 of the Nation Newspaper of Wednesday, July 6, 2016 with the caption, “I NEVER REFUSED ANYBODY APC MEMBERSHIP” as I humbly elect to re-join as follows:
It cannot be disputed that Cross Riverians received the merger and registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with utmost enthusiasm. That led to the massive membership into it from the outset.
The aspiration for the various organs of the party by very eminently qualified registered members from the state was normal given the viable alternative APC was envisaged to provide in the emerging build up towards the 2015 General Elections politics in the Cross River State.
Thus, apart from the Boki and Bekwarra Chapters where the party had unresolved congresses issues, the ward congresses at 196 Council Wards in the State demonstrated the natural inclinations of Cross Riverians to embrace change; especially the evolving and enticing internal democracy outlook APC represented. Yet, the inept state leadership (of the then State Harmonisation Committee), the manifest plans to hijack the party by PDP in the state, combined with the crooked disposition of the State Congresses Committee to wit, provided the fertile ground on which the stalemate of the State Congress inevitably germinated.
It was at that point His Excellency Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, as he then was, got the directives of the National leadership to intervene with a view to resolving the quagmire. Regrettably, that became the albatross of APC CRS as former Governor Amaechi’s intervention, instructed a sham state congress at the Tinapa Resort in Calabar, where he (Pastor Usani Usani) was the sole candidate. It was at this stage-managed state congress that APc members in CRS shot themselves on the feet, when they thumb printed his emergence as the State Chairman.
Prior to the repeat caricature congress, His Excellency, former Governor Amaechi, invited us to Government House Port Harcourt to dialogue and agree on the way forward for APC in CRS. At that meeting, I did fore-warn His Excellency, former Governor Amaechi to resist the apparent ill advice from his friends in CRS state who for selfish reasons were misleading him to impose him (Pastor Usani U. Usani) as State Chairman. I did not stop there, as I also highlighted the consequences of his going with his friends on this matter. Of course, he did not heed my patriotic advice. Today, I stand vindicated because all my suppositions happened as his friends only used him (His Excellency, former Governor Amaechi) to achieve their strategic political goal. Whether the former Governor and now Minister of Transport was part of that evil plan against APC CRS is another matter altogether. But the truth shall come to light someday.
Now, he (Pastor Usani U. Usani) flaunts his luck with hubris, telling us of being a Commissioner at 35 and a Minister of the Federal Republic at 53. To say that he became a commissioner at 35 is a blatant lie. To understand the point I am making, is to understand that he cannot deny being older than I am by about two years or three years. If I am 54+ today, he should be about 56+ or 57+ years old now. Meaning that at the time, he became a Commissioner at either 37 or 38+. What enviable record did he set becoming a Commissioner at 37 or 38+ or even at the said 35? When we have Chief MT Mbu of blessed memory who become a Minister of the Federal Republic at 23, Distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, Commissioner at 27, Chief Clement Ebri, Governor at 39, Mr Donald Duke, Governor at about 38+ on the youth leadership chronicle of CRS, as against this impious, unforgiving and sustained lies he is feeding the public.
APC leadership and Nigerians need to know that he was not there for the party at registration. He did not participate in the ward congresses held on the 14th of April 2014, chapter congresses, on the 21st of April 2014 and the stalemated state congresses that took place in Calabar on the 8th of May 2014. He only surfaced Nicodemusly at Abuja pretending to be part of the solution to the stalemated State Congress. Is he not a joiner himself? Today he claims to be a foundation member because a proxy registered him. Thus, in spite of his current posturing, quite early on assumption of office, he left no one in doubt as to who he is, when he immediately transmuted into a malignant and subliminal dictator to the extent that he misunderstood even constructive views.
If he is not a coward, he should come out straight and bold to mention a leader(s) who intimidated the so-called youths. But, in his usual chameleonic attitude, he continues to deny that it was his leadership as State Chairman that introduced the prevailing subculture of indiscipline, sycophancy and errand boys. It is despicable how the pocket of party men he created have turned themselves into a choral group of yes men and praise singers, but largely without vote value. Given his utterances such as the one am compelled to re-join, it is now obvious who is sponsoring those political simpletons. He (Pastor Usani Usani) must therefore come to terms with the reality of the changing circumstances of APC in CRS. He take notice that each one of the big names he is facelessly taunting has more vote value for the party in CRS, than all his political up starts put together.
He cannot also repudiate the fact that he successively shunted some prominent party members out of the state party administration and functions. He deliberately enthroned exclusiveness and isolationism; promoted division, bitterness and factionalism which warranted APC’s distressing performance during the 2015 General Elections. It was this his service of the mammon, little mindedness and mediocrity that masterminded the shoddy arrangements when PMB came on campaign trip to CRS in 2015.
More so, since his appointment, he further polarised APC in CRS by emphasising on the dichotomy of old and new members and consistently calling for the sharing of dividends along such divide. Now, most well-meaning members, understand this as a treacherous ploy devised by him to force loyalty and enslave the little minds with inordinate sense of entitlement around him. Every patriotic APC stalwarts in CRS is worried because he is causing the emergent and hitherto formidable APC in CRS into a crucible of intolerance and hate leading to the rattling at will of APC CRS by the party in government.
With all these activities, is he not openly and bluntly telling people not to join the party? “Actions they say speak louder than voice.” For me, this interview is another smoke screen intended to launder his bartered image, find alibis for the woeful outing of APC in Cross River State under your watch and the serial dismal rating of his performance as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. Even though I know he cannot change, I urge him to desist from thinking that he can hoodwink Nigerians from uncovering his deceitful claim to piety, intellect and integrity. He is nothing but a charade!
Capt Eno U. Inah (Rtd)
Is a member of the APC in Cross River State
