As the nation awaits the appointment of new ministers, stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have advised President Bola Tinubu to give the state’s slot to former governor Nyesom Wike as recompense for his role in the presidential election.
Chief Tony Okocha, former chief of staff to ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi, made the assertion in Abuja on Tuesday during a media chat, saying that as the coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Grassroots Mobilization, Wike worked with him for the victory of the APC flag bearer in Rivers State.
He was joined at the chat by the acting chairman of the state chapter of the APC, Omiete Efrebo.
Okocha recalled that after the presidential primary election of the ruling party, Amaechi, who contested with Tinubu for the ticket, had withdrawn his supporters from the APC campaign in the state just as Senator Magnus Abe, who later emerged as the gubernatorial flag bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He said the exit of the two former APC leaders put the projected chances of the ruling party in the presidential election in Rivers State below 25 percent, which would have ensured that Tinubu did not emerge as the winner.
According to the former chief of staff, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed to heed Wike’s call for the removal of the party national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, he did not hesitate to channel his resources to ensure Tinubu’s victory in the state.
“Amaechi remained implacable. Tinubu, after the primary, went to all the (presidential) aspirants and begged them, but Amaechi refused. Amaechi didn’t attend the presidential campaign that was held in Rivers State, his own state,” he said.
He alleged that the Tinubu campaign suffered in Rivers State because both Amaechi and Abe abandoned the party, ensuring that hardly any posters or jingles were produced for the presidential campaign.
Okocha also alleged that as chairman of the state’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Abe hardly attended meetings or openly campaigned for Tinubu.
“In Rivers State, the ‘Obidients’ or the Ibo elements are so strong. These people were skeptical that mentioning Tinubu would offend the people who want to vote for Obi, and so they did not campaign for Tinubu,” he further stated.
Continuing, the APC chieftain stated: “The point am making generally is that neither Amaechi and his group nor Abe and his group worked for Tinubu. What helped us was what happened in PDP nationwide. At the centre of that was Wike, and he’s from my state.”
While noting that only the PDP had won elections in Rivers State since 1999, he argued that Wike’s consistency in the main opposition party gave him advantage in matters of the party which he used for Tinubu’s favour in the 2023 presidential election.
“So, Wike gave instructions to his PDP family and because they had no candidate to work with in APC, it was me that they were coming to work with because I was the arrowhead.
“Magnus (Abe) had left, Amaechi had left. So, every collaboration was with me. So, I knew what happened,” Okocha revealed.
He said it was Wike who paid the APC agents in the 6,868 polling stations in Rivers State during the presidential election.
“So, I can tell you that without Wike’s huge support, material and financial, Obi would have swept Rivers State,” he declared.
Also speaking, Efebro urged the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to obey court orders on the leadership of the party in the state.
In the case between Omiete Efrebo and nine others as claimants/applicants versus Chief Emeka, Ihewnyichukwu Azubuike, and APC as defendants before the High Court of Rivers State, the court had issued an interim injunction restraining Azubuike from parading themself as the chairmen of the Rivers State chapter of the party.
Omiete lamented that despite the order, the NWC had continued to recognize Azubuike rather than himself as acting chairman by virtue of his position as the substantive deputy state chairman.
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