On Thursday, July 27, 2023, the name of the immediate-past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, was called on the floor of the Red Chamber of the National Assembly as one of the ministerial-nominees submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is known to all and sundry that Wike is still a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and has neither resigned his membership of the party, not has he been suspended by the national leadership of the party.
The nomination of the former governor, who played prominent role in Tinubu’s victory in Rivers State, seems to have made things uneasy for some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, who opposed his closeness to the President immediately after the general election.
While some APC members in the state, led by the national chairman of the Protocols/Logistics Committee of defunct Tinubu-Shettima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council (TSHICC), Chief Tony Okocha, seem to be happy over Wike’s nomination, others led by the party’s state chairman, Chief Emeka Beke, seem not to be.
The leadership of the party in the state told our correspondent that party will react to the development after due consultation with leaders and relevant stakeholders.
The APC publicity secretary in the state, Darlington Nwauju, said: “APC in Rivers State will give the most appropriate response after due consultations with relevant leaders and stakeholders of our party in the state.”
It is on good record that it was Okocha-led APC members that began the campaign for Wike to be nominated as a minister in Tinubu’s administration, in the state.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt recently, the former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, stated that their demand for the ministerial slot to be given to Wike was based on the fact that the former governor contributed immensely to the victory recorded by Tinubu in the state during the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Okocha said: “We are also here to rekindle, to restate, to re-emphasize the fact that leadership is as old as creation; that in the leadership of Tinubu’s family in Rivers State, we are pleased 100 percent with His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the immediate-past governor of Rivers State.
“We are pleased to him as our leader because he who pays the piper, dictates the tune. When even the national could not oblige us with funds for the national rally that a lot of you here featured, the magic was done by somebody.
“When Emefiele and his team made it possible for monies to move for our campaigns in the state, somebody made it possible for us to fund our agents in 6,868 polling units in Rivers State and did other ground works.
“We make this demand because demand is different from request; request has to do with privilege, demand is a right. As our right and because we won an election; Rivers State is one of the states that delivered Tinubu outrightly with 25 percent. In the whole of South-South and South-East, it is only in Rivers State that Tinubu won outrightly.
“So, we have a right of entitlement. Our demand is that nobody should rob Peter to pay Paul. Our own share of the booty should be handed over to His Excellency, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. We say so because we are confident as soon as it gets to him, he knows those who worked for Tinubu and it will get to us. It is only natural that it should go that way.”
The APC chieftain called on Wike to dump the PDP and join the national ruling party, in order to provide formidable leadership for the party in the state.
Okocha said: “Suffice it again to say that as a party, forward-looking, there will be election in Nigeria in the next couple of months, APC is not at the verge of going into extinction in Nigeria. But, truly, APC in Rivers State is emorraging and bleeding. In fact, we are bleeding to ICU.
“It does appear to us that the leadership of PDP in Nigeria, do not appreciate, understand the influence; they don’t understand the pedigree that is embedded in Wike. It does appear to us that the PDP does not know what they have in Wike.
“So, we are asking and calling on Wike come over to Macedonia and lead us. Wike should come over to APC and lead us.”
But, Okocha’s call on Wike to join the APC did not go down well with the party’s leadership in the state, as the promptly issued a statement dissociating the party from the call.
The statement, which was signed by the party’s publicity secretary in the state, Darlington Nwauju, reads in full: “The attention of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has been drawn to calls by imposters and sponsored amorphous groupings acting as fronts for the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, that APC in Rivers State is calling on him (Mr Wike) to join the same party he had characterised as suffering from cancer.
“Nothing can be more preposterous than this kite being flown by minions of Wike working hard to justify their pay cheque.
“We wish to unequivocally dismiss any such rumour or sponsored story planted in any medium that Rivers State APC had at any forum invited Mr Wike to join our party none the least calling on Wike to take over leadership of a party he never campaigned for. We dare anyone to provide video evidence of any campaigns where Mr Wike openly campaigned for the APC.
“The terror unleashed on our party members in the cause of his eight years maximum rulership alone is enough evidence to confirm that Wike has no business with Rivers State APC. Asking him to come and take over is asking an enemy to come and finish off his victims.
“We are aware of his schemes to escape justice over the looting of the collective patrimony of Rivers people which is the major reason for his romancing top APC members.
“For those who may be suffering from amnesia, a none APC member cannot be cheerleader for the entry of Wike into APC. Nobody can decree his membership of a political party through radio or newspaper publications. All vexatious attempts at distracting our party in Rivers State will keep failing.
“For the avoidance of doubts, the APC in Rivers State has a legally recognized state office where all official businesses are conducted. We do also have standard procedure for convening our meetings according to our party’s constitution.
“Therefore, it is expedient for the public to be aware that village meetings or gatherings cannot equate with a stakeholders’ meeting of APC in Rivers State, especially a gathering that took place at a hotel belonging to such a non-APC member.
“We therefore disassociate the leadership of our party from any so-called stakeholders meeting suggesting that our party be handed over to Mr Wike. We reiterate our party’s resolve to lend 100% support to the policies and programmes of the Federal Government under the indefatigable leadership of our President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
“We warn blackmailers and conflipreneurs to desist from the shameless tradition of using the name of our party to curry favour from desperate politicians seeking relevance at the centre.”
Apparently not satisfied with the press statement, the party’s stakeholders in the state, wrote a protest letter to Tinubu over what they described as “Wike’s overbearing influence on the party”, especially at the national level.
The stakeholders, in the letter, which was signed by Nwauju, sought the President’s intervention on the issue, saying: “We wish to clear the air that Gov Wike did not deliver any value to our dear Rivers State APC.”
They also called on Tinubu to reject Wike’s overtures to stealthily foist himself on the party in order to take control of it’s structures in the state.
The letter cautioned the President to be weary of the former governor and his cohorts, saying Wike’s claims of working to favour the party now will only undermine loyal and dedicated APC members and other stakeholders.
They recall that Wike had in the past, meted unquantifiable brutality on members and families of APC in Rivers State with countless casualties.
The letter reads in part: “Mr. President Sir, we wish to recall that the 2015 presidential election melted unquantifiable brutality on members and families of APC in Rivers State with countless casualties.
“Yet the Rivers APC resisted the onslaught of former Governor Wike lead aggression on innocent party followers and members.
“Dear Mr. President, we wish to clear the air that Gov Wike did not deliver any value to our dear Rivers State APC, rather he fought against our dear Rivers APC.”
