Crisis Rocks Rivers, APC Over Ministerial Slot
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has denied ceding the state’s ministerial slot to former governor Nyesom Wike.
Spokesperson Darlington Nwauju described the claim as ‘the most fantastically audacious of lie’.
Former Chief of Staff and leader of the Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council, Chief Tony Okocha, had claimed that the party conceded the slot to Wike.
But Nwauju said Okocha lacked the authority to speak for the party as he is not a legitimate member.
He said: “The party has never interacted with the Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council as we have more than 100 NGOs and support groups who worked for the APC in Rivers State.
“For clarity, no NGO or individual outside the officially recognised party structure has the authority to award any entitlements to the former governor, who is obviously a card carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We wonder where the group or individual derived its powers to speak for APC from.
“Tony Okocha is not a member of our party, and we have not received any communication from the National Secretariat that he has been granted waivers to join our party.
“So, we want to officially dispel that sponsored rumour targeted to package the political ambition of former Governor Wike. We reject this obvious public ridicule and assault on our sensibilities as a party.”
Nwauju added that even if the insinuations that Wike secretly sponsored President Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign were true, it wasn’t enough reason for him to be considered for a ministerial slot in the state.
