Immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, not to bungle what he called God-given chance to correct past mistakes of governing the country.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, Wike said God gave the APC the opportunity to correct past errors that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, failed to correct but that the APC is about to spoil that with its internal crisis.
The governor was making reference to the struggle for the principal positions of the 10th Assembly.
The announcement of the former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, and Tajudeen Abbas as the party’s choices for the Senate and Speaker of the House positions is facing serious opposition in the party.
The former Rivers State Governor has intervened to ensure a smooth ride for the anointed candidates and on Monday visited President Bola Tinubu alongside Akpabio and former governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, to assure Tinubu that Akpabio was the best choice.
His visit was coming less than a week after his second visit to the president at the presidential villa.
He had earlier visited Tinubu to congratulate him on his victory.
The former Minister of State for Education had earlier endorsed Akpabio and Tajudeen in a sharp U-turn after initially endorsing deputy speaker of the House, Ahmed Idris Wase for the position of the Apes of the House.
Before endorsing Akpabio, he awarded the former minority leader of the Senate a state honour a few days to the end of his tenure.
Having taken into consideration the political developments since the conduct of the primaries of political parties in 2022, the ex-governor advised the APC to sit up.
“APC should be jubilating that God has given them an opportunity at the cost of PDP. God gave APC the opportunity to repent from the sins they committed against Nigerians.
“God gave them this opportunity now and they want to bungle it again by bringing in crisis.
“If Mr. President doesn’t have a smooth administration, at the end of the day, who suffers? Is it, not Nigerians? Let us believe that we are all one, let us give everyone a sense of belonging,” Wike said.
On the continuous question of his stay in the PDP and if he would agree to serve in the Tinubu government, he said, “First of all, I am not lobbying for an appointment, for Christ’s sake.
“And I can’t only be important because you have given me an appointment. I mean, you should look at it very well.
“Two, Mr. President has not called me. With due respect, if Mr. President calls you and says, I want you to serve. Maybe I will ask, in what capacity do you want me to serve? And he says it, I say okay, thank you, sir.
“Look I have a political team, I have a family, I won’t just sit down without talking to anybody and say oh Yes. Look, look, I am not begging for an appointment,” he said.