-Rivers APC faction passes resolution, asks Wike to join and lead the party in the state
-Amaechi faction prefers to watch yet
By Ignatius Chukwu
Who is the arrowhead of the lobby drive by Rivers State in the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) kitchen cabinet: Chief Nyesom Wike or Sen Magnus Abe?
Now, if Tinubu camp wants to give anything to Rivers State, is it through Wike Abe? Where does Chief Tony Okocha feature in all this equation?
Chief Okocha has made it clear that ex-Gov Wike should be the arrowhead at the Tinubu palace, but sources said Sen Abe is leaving no stone unturned.
Observers thus ask: Does the BAT team not know who the arrowhead from Rivers State is? Does Tinubu not know which persons worked for his victory in Rivers State?
Should he not know who did what within Wike, Okocha, Abe, Tonye Cole, and Chibuike Amaechi?
As far as Chief Okocha is concerned, if rain wants to fall, it must first fall on those standing before those squatting. Those who sowed must reap, he says. He has repeatedly traced the journey to Tinubu victory and believes his group through ex-Gov Wike ought to be toasted and compensated. But, in politics, it may be the more you look, the less you see.
Politicians seem to think of the next election right from the end of the last one.
Details:
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has just passed a resolution calling on the ex-governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to join the party without delay and take up leadership of the entity.
The resolution and called were made Wednesday evening, June 21, 2023, at a hotel on Airport Road in Port Harcourt, by the Tony Okocha faction of the APC in the state, the faction that worked with then Gov Wike to deliver Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the elections on February 25, 2023.
Speaking at the end of a meeting of the group at Leadworth Hotel, Chief Okocha, who heads the Tinubu Support Groups in Rivers State, said their faction is now the mainstream one, saying the one led by his former boss, Amaechi, supported another presidential candidate and lots out.
He said Rivers APC is bleeding to the ICU (intensive care unit) meaning it is starved of funds to operate. He thus called on Wike to join the party and take over.
Okocha said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not seem to know who they’ve got in Wike and should no longer have the benefit of such a man.
He said for the leader of the PDP to say Wike was not poisoned but had alcohol problem, it means they have come to the end of their relationship. “His Excellency should make haste and come to where he is appreciated”.
Gov Sim Fubara had given the cart away when he told Wike four days ago at a thanksgiving service to continue to look after him (Fubara) should he cross over to the APC leaving him in the PDP.
Many interpreted this to mean that the decision for Wike to finally move had been reached indoors.
The Okocha group also demanded that every good thing meant for Rivers State from the Tinubu-led FG should be passed to Wike. “We know when he gets it, he will bring it down and he knows who did what in Rivers State to make Tinubu win”.
Okocha traced the journey to victory, and noted that at a time, Abe left with many to a new party while the APC leadership in the state abandoned the Tinubu candidacy.
He said it was at that time he took up the challenge and rallied the remaining persons to work for Tinubu, and that then Gov Wike brought funds and other logistics to help deliver Tinubu in Rivers State.
He also said Wike did other underhand things, saying if they call it rigging, so be it. “Rigging is everywhere in the world. It is not an Ikwerre word. Today, Tinubu has emerged and is president.”
He said it is wrong for those who abandoned the project to now bounce back and struggle to use their personal relationship with Tinubu to act as first son or first daughter.
“We are not against them getting anything but they should not use lies to get ahead, when evidence is there that those persons ensured Tinubu did not win in their wards.”
Okocha said Tinubu came prepared and has hit the ground running with critical policies such as fuel subsidy removal, abolition of multiple windows on foreign exchange, appointment of very sound persons into sensitive positions, etc. “We are proud of you and we will continue to be”.
When contacted, the Amaechi faction source said they have chosen to watch the game unfold for now.
Note: A source in the Okocha faction of the APC said they ware prepared to fight the matter to the last point, if that is required to prove who worked for Tinubu and who did not, so that rewards can be given same way.
Politics, however, seems to be the only place where truth is difficult to see.
