Ikoawaji Blasts APC as ‘Kindergarten,’ Warns of 2027 Election Loss Amid Rivers Crisis

Chief Asukewe Ikoawaji, a former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the now-defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANP), has called the current administration “kindergarten” and cautioned that if the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not fulfill its promises to Nigerians, it may lose the 2027 general elections.
Ikoawaji also criticized the ruling party’s national leadership for what he called a “studied silence” regarding legislators’ attempts to remove Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State.

According to the elder statesman and member of the Rivers State Elders Council, the APC was making the same mistakes that caused the Peoples Democratic Party to lose the general elections in 2015.

According to Ikoawaji, the surge of notable politicians and governors defecting to the APC was an indication that Nigerians were losing faith in the ruling party.

He claimed that just before it lost power, the PDP used a similar tactic.

In the same way that the PDP failed prior to the 2015 elections, the APC has failed Nigerians. At that point, the PDP began courting governors from other parties since the public no longer trusted it. Ikoawaji told The PUNCH on Friday that this is precisely what is taking place right now.

In response to the most recent threat of impeachment against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, Ikoawaji stated that the political crisis in Rivers State was a manifestation of a larger national leadership failure.

He criticized the APC leadership for keeping quiet as its members purportedly took action against their own governor.

“The governor is in the APC,” he stated. Most chairman of local governments are members of the APC. APC members make up the majority of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The APC is in charge of the Federal Government at the federal level.

What is the national secretariat of the APC doing? How can a ruling party keep mute while allowing its members to start the impeachment process against their own governor? This is hardly a cause for amusement.

Ikoawaji blamed Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, for his part in the political crisis in Rivers, but he also attacked Governor Fubara for what he called shows of weakness.

In the upcoming election, he asserted that the people of Rivers would not support a “kindergarten governor.”

“All these things are part of the FCT minister’s game,” he stated. However, the reality is straightforward: you should act like a governor if you are one. The people who elected you are the ones you must answer to.

“Divided House Cannot Stand”
Ikoawaji bemoaned the fact that many of the APC’s top officials were ignorant of the party’s constitution, recalling his tenure as Deputy National Chairman of the ANPP, which he characterized as the main opposition party during the PDP era.

“It is regrettable that many individuals at the top of the party do not even comprehend the party constitution,” he remarked. A house divided against itself cannot endure, according to the Bible.

Politicians in Kindergarten
Wike’s visits to Rivers State local government areas with APC officials were also criticized by the former party chief, who called them premature campaigning conducted without the party’s official insignia.

“That indicates that these are kindergarten politicians,” he remarked. The minister from the FCT is not an APC member. His party, the PDP, expelled him. However, APC leaders accompany him as he conducts grassroots campaigning.

There is no APC flag, despite the presence of the state chairman, the deputy national chairman of the APC, South-South, senators, and other APC leaders. Rather, you see blue-white-blue, which is not an APC representation. The party’s leadership is also observing.

“Nigerians APC Failing”
Ikoawaji cautioned that the ruling party was gradually losing its hold on power, claiming to be a founder member of the APC and a pivotal member of the ANPP faction that created the party.

He continued by saying that Nigerians’ immediate suffering had not been addressed by the Federal Government’s focus on long-term economic advantages.

“How do you expect the ordinary man to enjoy public electricity if the top citizen is not using it?” he asked. These mistakes are the cause of the issues we are currently dealing with.

In closing, the senior statesman warned that the Rivers people will oppose what he called bad leadership decisions in the upcoming general elections.

“Mark my words: Rivers State will not support a kindergarten governor in 2027,” Ikoawaji said in closing.