The faction of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has lambasted the Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi faction for visiting the national secretariat of the party.
The Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, recently revealed to DAILY POST that the party was not comfortable being sidelined by its own government on the national level.
He said the APC leaders had visited the party’s national secretariat and met with National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, to sort out the issue once and for all.
But the loyalists within the Rivers APC and the National Working Committee met yesterday, and the Tony Okocha-led faction wondered why the Amaechi’s loyalists should be asking a favour from a presidential candidate they allegedly worked against during the general election.
The delegation, led by Okocha, a former Chief of Staff to Amaechi, told Ganduje that whenever they wanted to be considered for appointments, the party should contact Wike, who he described as the “political infantry” in the state.
Okocha expressed dismay that a faction of the party in Rivers State led by Tonye Cole and Dakuku Peterside recently paid a courtesy visit to the NWC, lobbying for political appointments despite working against the party.
He alleged that prior to the election, Amaechi called a meeting where he informed them that he had struck a deal with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, and directed them to vote the PDP against the party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Okocha said: “In Rivers State, the leader of the slant to which Cole and Dakuku, et al, belonged, had helmed up alliances with the PDP Presidential Candidate, HE, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku and not Tinubu should be voted for in the presidential election.
“This wicked resolve against the APC in Rivers was openly announced in a meeting at the instance of the leader at his private residence in Port Harcourt, thickly attended by Mr. Cole, Dakuku, Chukwudi Dimkpa, et al, members of the innermost caucus.
“It was handed down that Tinubu must fail in Rivers State. They were mandated to transport to their supporters in the 6,868 polling units, 319 wards and 23 local government areas in Rivers State.
“We have pictorial, visual and individual testimonies to this. So, how did they contribute to the party’s presidential victory in Rivers State and unable to deliver their members who contested National Assembly elections on the same day?”
Okocha said since 1999, the PDP had always won both the presidential and governorship elections back to back in Rivers State.
He added: “How did APC win the presidential election in Rivers State, while the PDP won 13 out of 15 federal constituencies in Rivers State, losing one to the APC and one to the Labour Party?
“How did the PDP win all three senatorial seats in Rivers State? How did PDP trounce the APC to a distant second position in the governorship election in Rivers State?
“What magic could have made it impossible for the PDP not to win the Presidential Election in Rivers State, even after Amaechi, et al, voted for the PDP in their units and wards?”
