Major APC supporters in Rivers State have encouraged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give the former governor of River State, Nyesom Wike, serious consideration while choosing his ministerial appointees.
The call was based on the ‘enormous’ roles Wike played in ensuring Tinubu’s sustained victory in the state during the February 25 presidential election, according to the stakeholders operating under the Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council Rivers State, led by former Chief of Staff to the Rivers State Government and stalwart of the party, Chief Tony Okocha.
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Additionally, he urged the general public to disregard what he called Magnus Abe’s cheap political prank of suddenly taking the lead in Tinubu’s political veranda after he abruptly left the APC at the exact moment he was most needed, during a press conference with pressmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
Okocha credited Governor Nyesom Wike with the APC’s success in the state and claimed that he was instrumental in keeping the party united while other key players in the organisation turned their backs.
He said: “When Ameachi had left, Magnus had left what remained was the little I could control with an amalgamation of support groups. Since 1999, PDP has been in control of Rivers State back to back. Even in 2015, when I was Chief of staff, Ameachi was governor and during that Presidential election, APC scored about 69,000 votes, PDP scored about 2 million votes and we were in charge and he doubled as the DG of Buhari in 2015, in 2019 Wike had become governor, it became even worse.
“In 2015, APC scored 7 percent, in 2019 we scored 5 percent. Then, in 2023 APC is now winning. What was the magic? Wike’s PDP scored 32/32 in the state House of Assembly in Rivers state, Wike’s PDP scored 12/13 of House of Reps seats, Wike’s PDP scored 3/3 of the senatorial seats, Wike’s PDP won the governorship and then Wike’s PDP did not win Presidential election in Rivers state. What happened?
“Is it not the reason that all of us know that the G-5 governors said until things are made right, until power shifts to the south and that until Ayu resigns that they will not work for Atiku. Now, the spin doctor who made sure everything worked out for Tinubu, was Wike.
“We have 6,868 polling units in Rivers state across 319 wards and across 23 LGs and you and I know that every politician has his own polling unit agents that are paid on a stipend or the other. Who paid for the 6,868 agents in Rivers for APC?”
Okocha further noted, “If you have somebody that is more than you, why don’t you invite the person. If he helped us to win in 2023, are we now going to tell him to come to us in 2027 to help us win? Why don’t we bring him in because he has value to add. No politician in Rivers state today can surmount Wike. No one in Rivers State can challenge Wike. He is the best.
“We are saying that whatever is due us as Rivers state should be handed over to Wike because he knows who worked for Tinubu in Rivers. I would have claimed it all because I was the last man standing when everybody took off but we are saying, look, this man contributed more.”
