“The Rivers Labour Party has not suspended me, I am still chairman”

Hilda DokuboChairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Rivers Statehas denied rumors about her expulsion from the party.

On Thursday, reports emerged that Ms Dokubo had been suspended as a party member in her district, Asari Toru Local Government Area of ​​the state.

The suspension reportedly followed an emergency meeting of the party’s district executive committee on July 15, which was approved by the LGA leadership on July 18.

The reasons given for her suspension were financial misconduct, abuse of office and violations of party rules.

However, the actress and politician denied these allegations in a video shared on her Instagram page on Saturday and stressed that she remains the party’s chairwoman.

She said: “Today I went viral. I was on every blog and news site and it is very embarrassing that media outlets that you would assume would do research before publishing have forgotten the ethics of their profession. Maybe because of the money or not but I hope that this particular broadcast, the way they quickly broadcast it, will bring this to all their blogs to set the record straight. I have never been suspended and everyone in this publication are not members of the Workers’ Party because the party has a register and we know all our members especially in Asari Toru which is a small community.

“So these are all PDP boys carrying out their master’s orders. Normally I would have let it slide but because the internet never forgets, I want to put my part of the story out here so you know that at no point was I suspended; at no point was there any delay with money. We have no money. I am the chairman of the Labour Party, River State, not the financial secretary or treasurer. I am not even a board member of Ward 3. I am the chairman of the Labour Party, River State. So I think they have missed the point out there.”

Allegations refuted

Ms Dokubo, 54, was appointed chairman of the state party in March 2023. She denied the allegations, adding that her 30-year career in Nollywood and 10 years with international organizations had been free of scandals.

“Not for a day has there been any mention of me taking anything. There is no blemish because my work is based on integrity and honour and they look at those aspects before offering me a job. So when they say you are venturing into politics, you are entering murky territory. I believe President Goodluck Jonathan once said that if you try to stop corruption, corruption will fight back.

“This is a backlash of corruption and that’s why I’m doing this show – because this could be just one of many to come. So let me appeal to my friends, my supporters and my lovers of the Labour Party. We have work to do. We’re renewing memberships, registering new members and strengthening our wards. So please stay focused and don’t get distracted,” she said.

Bribes

The Special Adviser on Youth Affairs to former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili claimed that the allegations were based on her refusal to be influenced by bribes.

The University of Port Harcourt graduate reiterated that the allegations would not halt the progress of the Labour Party or bring about its downfall, saying her focus remained on saving the state from those who threaten it.

“If they try to persuade you and you refuse to be persuaded and then they threaten you and you refuse to be threatened, they will definitely look for an opportunity to hurt you. The sad thing is that all the people who sold all the publications forgot to sell the most important one. That is why we are in this situation: I have taken the 27 persons who defected from the PDP to the APC to court. We are in court with them and they have tried everything and I said ‘let justice prevail’. So everyone is trying to fight back.

“Now, I was appointed in March and the people who were in office before my appointment were relieved of their duties and suspended indefinitely for anti-party activities and took me and the other board members to court twice. We won our case both times. So I don’t even know why they didn’t make this public. We won our case twice but they disappeared until the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) invited the party leaders to a meeting to brief us on the upcoming local government elections and we collected our letters of intent and expressions of interest. And these very people who were trying to do what they do very well returned to the RSIEC and were turned away,” Ms Dokubo said.

Ms Dokubo, who made her acting debut in “Evil Passion”, reiterated her strong opposition to all attempts to “commercialise public mandate in the state”.

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Asari-Toru LP

Furthermore, the Asari-Toru LGA branch of the party refuted the alleged suspension of Mrs Dokubo as a party member in the district.

On Friday, Horsfall Mac-Jay, the chairman of the party’s transition committee in the LGA, said Ms Dokubo would remain a member and chairman of the party in the state.

Mr Mac-Jay urged the public to ignore the actress’s suspension, saying it was the work of some phantom elements unknown to the party.