Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja
A leading member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, legal luminary and oil industry mogul, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, has dumped the the party.
Lulu-Briggs, a former chieftain of the APC, who contested the last APC governorship primary, announced his decision to pursue his governorship ambition on another party’s platform in a statement titled: ‘Taking Leave of a Family,’ Sunday morning.
In his defection letter from the APC, the politician noted that though it was a hard decision for him, he was left with no other choice but to move to another party to pursue is dream of creating a new Rivers State.
“Hard decision because I formally joined you in April last year and you received me with warmth and love. You made me feel at home, and we worked hard as a family to reposition the party and stabilise our leader, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who was then under tremendous pressure. We quickly rolled up our sleeves and labored behind our leader and with you.
“Inspired by the leader’s claim to equity, justice, and fair-play we inconvenienced ourselves to ensure success and our beloved All Progressives Congress became bigger and stronger. The claim by the leader that Rivers State should be governed at this time by someone of riverine extraction was believed to be a sincere and patriotic position. Hence we encouraged the membership to follow wholeheartedly.
“The facts are known, we took steps to protect the party from sliding into a personal estate, if the PDP in Rivers State is owned by a strong man and our leader in the APC by default becomes a feudal lord, then our state is doomed. I have nothing personal to lose or gain, but we have all to lose if in a democracy we allow the aberration of overlords, hence my decision. While we were together I enjoyed your comradeship and so find it hard to leave, yet, men of conscience would when necessary overlook personal sentiments and emotions.
“I am 100 percent Rivers just as you and so I trust that we shall keep our friendship and possibly realign if and when we feel the need. I bear no grudge or malice and I implore that you take none toward me, what is obvious is that I have to continue my quest to help liberate our state by advancing my vision on another platform,” he stated.
Though he was yet to announce the party on which platform he hopes to actualise his governorship ambition, THISDAY gathered that the politician has already secured the Accord Party (AP) ticket for the 2019 polls.
