The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dissociated itself from calls from certain quarters in the party to the immediate past Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike to defect to the APC to provide leadership for the party.
The former Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Chairman, Tinubu Presidential Campaign Rally in Rivers State and National Chairman of the Protocol/Logistics Committee (TSGICC), Tony Okocha, on Tuesday called on the former Governor, Nyesom Wike to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) for the APC.
Okocha said APC needed the value of the former Governor and appealed to him to come over and lead the party.
But in a reaction on Saturday, the APC described the calls as by imposters who are sponsoring amorphous groupings acting as fronts for Wike, that APC in Rivers State was calling on him, Wike to join the same party he had characterised as suffering from cancer.
“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”, the party said in a statement signed by its spokesman, Darlington Nwauju.
He went on: “Nothing can be more preposterous than this kite being flown by minions of Wike working hard to justify their pay cheque.
“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 non- 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 procedures 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 stakeholder’s 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”.
Okocha justified his call by saying that some of those who did not work for the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Rivers State were currently sending their credentials and claiming entitlements for the new administration.
He said; “At the point we are now this persons should be playing secondary roles and not primary roles. We are told that they have begin to assemble CVs from their supporters and promising them that they have the connection that they are Tinubu’s son and first daughter that they have the capacity to make them take the position that is due Rivers State and we are here to tell the world that it’s against natural laws. Natural laws are the only thing that is fixed”.
“We also want to rekindled and emphasis the fact leadership is as old as creation that in the leadership of the Tinubu’s family in Rivers State that we are pleased 100% with you His Excellence Nyesom Wike as our leader in Rivers State because he who pays the piper detects the tune.
“When it was difficult when even the national could not oblige us funds for the national rally when some group of persons made it impossible for money to move for the campaign in the State but Wike made it possible to fund our agents in the 6868 polling units in the State and do some background works and thereafter make it possible for us to win the election.
“As a demand because we won the election, Rivers State is one of the states that delivered Tinubu outrightly and even in South South it’s in Rivers State that Tinubu won outrightly so we have the right of entitlement.
“Our demand is that nobody should rob Peter to pay Paul. Our own share of the butty should be given to us; it should be handed over to be handed over to Governor Wike.
“We are confident that as soon as the bootie gets to him he knows those who worked for Tinubu and it should get to us. It’s only natural that that’s how it should go”.
He said as a party, there will be election in the next couple of months or years. There will be another election in Nigeria. Truly, APC in Rivers State is bleeding. It does appear to us that the leadership of PDP in Nigeria do not appreciate, understand the pidegree of of Wike.
“It does appear to us that PDP does not know what they have in Wike and we are calling on Wike to come over to APC and lead us”