Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State, says former Governor of the State, Nyesom Wike, decided to join the Party after realising his political career was over.
According to them, Wike was not to be commended for APC’s impressive growth in the State.
Recall that Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, was recently nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for whom he was believed to have worked in the previous presidential election after falling out with PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
Reports opine that Wike orchestrated the APC’s victory in the Rivers presidential election.
In a statement released Thursday in Abuja, the State APC leaders noted that the Party’s growth in Rivers has been organic since its inception in 2015.
The leaders, via the publicity secretary, Darlington Nwajulu, said thanks to the efforts of Party technocrats in the state, APC narrowed and eventually surpassed the lead held by the PDP since 2015.
“Our growth patterns have been consistent since the 2015 presidential onslaught against Rivers APC. Our growth from 2015 to 2019 was 23.8 per cent, closing the huge gap of 2015 presidential election.
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“Then the 2023 presidential election came in with additional 80,881 votes in favour of APC in Rivers State. The question is, where is the helping hand of former Gov Wike, can he claim to have helped Rivers APC with
only 80,881 votes, when our growth showed organic growth since 2019?” the leaders queried.
The group also questioned whether those singing Wike’s praise of how he helped Rivers APC knew about the 1,487,075 votes he carried in 2015 in favour of the PDP out of the 2,537,590 registered voters in Rivers.
They also inquired about the 472,971 votes Wike received for the PDP in the 2019 presidential election out of the 3,215,273 registered voters in Rivers State.
“Can a non partyman take over a national ruling party in a state, simply because they claim to have helped the national party in his state with just 80,881 votes when such claims couldn’t be substantiated with empirical data?
“Such is the calamitous quagmire Wike, and his sponsored detractors have caused to their political dynasty. There is evidence to prove that Wike did not work for APC, Wike lost his polling unit and lost his ward.
“When he found that his political career was gone, he decided to pitch his tent with APC, just to have a comfort zone to rob APC in Rivers State,” the statement added.
