…Says party’s door wide open for Wike, Gov Fubara to join

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

Newly-constituted Caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Rivers state chapter, has revealed that securing victory for APC candidate in the 2023 presidential election took manoeuvrability and manipulation of forces.

Chairman of the newly-constituted state caretaker committee, Tony Okocha made the disclosure on the sidelines after the inauguration of his committee at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

He also rested the speculations about the possibility of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, dumbing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling party, announcing boldly that the door is wide open to Wike, Rivers governor, Sim Fubara among others.

Also speaking while inaugurating the committee, APC national chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had defended the decision to dissolve the Rivers state executive and inaugurate the caretaker committee to take charge.

According to Okocha; “it is a bit painful that as members of the political party in a particular state as important as Rivers state, we have not learnt our lessons. We are unable to beat our chest that we have been able to produce not even a Councilor in the 119 wards in Rivers state even though as APC we are from the chip of the old block.

“The last election will beat your imagination that a party that ordinarily ought to be robust, lost in the 32 House of Assembly seats in Rivers state. We got just a seat in the House of Representatives out of 13. We lost the three senatorial districts. In the governorship election, we lost woefully.

“We only thank God that with the manoeuvrability and pliability of us and some other forces, we can win the presidential election in Rivers state. I was going to remind the chairman when he said that Rivers state APC was the only state that won election in the South South. I need to remind him that it was both in the South-South and South East. Out of 11 states, it was only Rivers that our presidential candidate won the election.

“We are going to perpetuate that. We told the chairman that we need to engage and re-engage our people. I think the tendency of one man show which ought to be a collective effort to make the battle strong,” he noted.
Thanking the national chairman to rescuing Rivers chapter from total oblivion, Okocha lamented that it was reduced to mere social club.

“The essence of political party is not to attend burial ceremonies, or attend child dedication, it is to field candidates for election, contest the election win the election and hold the reins of government. So at a point in our political life and history, APC Rivers state almost metamorphosed into a social club in River State.

“I recall that I came and made those issues clear to you and I have others that came visiting too. They were unequivocal in stressing the same matter. It was one point that kept alliterating each time we met or each time you spoke to our people.

“The issue of your interest and ensuring that APC River state was robust and formidable, united and for that reason, you have, in your wisdom in cahoots with your leadership, isolated these young men and ladies from the Rivers APC extraction to midwives a brand new APC in River state,” he commended Ganduje in his words of assurances on his readiness for the task ahead.

Earlier in his introductory comments, the party’s boss, made case for rejigging the state chapter of the party by opening their arms to accept both old and intending members.

“There is no doubt we have members who have been in APC, since its creation, some have left the party, some prominent party members left the party and even contested in another political party and they do not wish to come back. Some of the original party members also followed another faction, they too are ready to come back.

“Also, there are newcomers from other parties that would like to come into the party. You can see that there is no time to rejig the party but now, especially rejigging the party leadership.

“We have confidence in you, and we expect you to involve yourselves because as part of the reform system, we have introduced electronic registration of our members, we request you to pay attention to the electronic registration of our members and I want you to spearhead that exercise. We expect you to constitute various committees so that you can get more and more entrance into the party, that is the work that you should do.

We also we expect you to prepare ground enabling environment so that congresses could be conducted for the emergence of leadership at the ward level, local government level, state level and even senatorial level. We expect you to put more life into this party, there is no discrimination, do not bother yourself about factions because you are brothers for unity, and regard yourself as APC brothers.

“We would like you to make history by building a strong foundation for our party, so that during the next gubernatorial election we have an APC government in River state, during the next presidential election, even though we are grateful, River state is the only state in the south where we succeeded in electing our president Bola Tinubu,” he charged.

On the status of both Nyesom Wike and former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, spokesperson for APC Rivers caretaker committee, Chibuike Ikenga, said that; “there are so many leaders in Rivers State. Rotimi Ameachi is the leader of the party. Other leaders of the party also are people who have participated to get the party to where it is today.

“Nyesom Wike is an illustrious son of Rivers state but not a member of APC. He is a member of PDP. But if tomorrow he wants to join the APC we cannot stop anybody. As far as he wants to join others we will welcome them,” he said.