APC Woos Wike, Offers Him Party Leadership In Rivers

• The state’s immediate past governor, has been at odds with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the 2023 general elections

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that efforts are being made to entice FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to join the party, and that if he agrees to join, he will become the party’s leader in Rivers State.

According to reports, Wike, the state’s immediate past governor, has been at odds with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the 2023 general elections, when he contested and lost the party’s primary election for its presidential ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

A cold war recently erupted between him and his political godson, the state’s current governor, Siminalayi Fubara, resulting in the factionalization of the State House of Assembly and the eventual defection of 27 lawmakers loyal to him (Wike) to the APC.

However, with the court-recognized Speaker of the House, Edison Ehie, a loyalist of Fubara, declaring the seats of the 27 lawmakers vacant on Wednesday, the Rivers State chapter of the APC said the developments confirmed that the peace talks initiated by President Bola Tinubu between Wike and Fubara had collapsed.

The chairman of the APC caretaker committee in the state, Tony Okocha, disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen on the recent developments in the state, after his meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.

“We want APC to win Rivers this time, and when he (Wike) comes, he will be the leader of the party in the state,” he said.

Responding to a question on the reported Tinubu’s recent intervention, Okocha said, “I wasn’t part of it, but whatever that was, it has broken down, and it has been broken irreconcilably.”

Okocha also stated that the decision by the state assembly’s four members to pass the budget presented to it by Governor Fubara for the fiscal year 2024 without the presence of the 27 members who defected to the APC a few days ago would not stand, calling it an illegality.

Okocha also stated that the party’s representatives in the state House of Assembly were considering initiating impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara for a number of constitutional violations.

“Although I am not a member of the state House of Assembly, but impeachment is a democratic process. Impeachment is not a coup detat,” he said.

Speaking on the demolition of the state House of assembly complex, Okocha said the APC would not allow illegality to thrive in the state. He added that the defected lawmakers would continue to meet elsewhere, so long as they had the mace, which was the symbol of authority with them. “Let me also let you know that what makes an assembly is not the structure, but the human beings in that assembly.

“So, an assembly can be moved to anywhere, provided the mace which is its symbol of authority is there. As at yesterday, about 27 members sat and took far-reaching decisions on state matters,” he said.