The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday, assured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the State’s commitment to his Renewed Hope Agenda.
The assurance was given during its one-million-man march, led by Tony Okocha, Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in the State, in collaboration with members of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Okocha said the rally served as an affirmation of Rivers State’s continued support for President Tinubu.
The rally, according to Okocha, is also in support of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Speaking to the crowd at the APC state secretariat, Okocha clarified the reasons for having Wike’s picture on the banner of the rally, stating that the one-million-man match is not an APC event but an event of “Mr. President’s family in Rivers State.”
The Rivers APC chairman alluded to the fact that Wike championed the victory of Tinubu in the state in the last election, describing him as “001” and the “leader of the Renewed Hope Agenda in Rivers State.”
He added that their action is part of their move to again woo Wike to the Party to secure the victory of Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Okocha said: “This man called Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is a game changer. He has a Midas touch. You remember that we have been wooing him to come over to Macedonia to help us. This is again one of those attempts to woo him to come over to APC and help us so that we’ll continue to win the election for Mr President. Particularly when the election comes for 2027.”
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Reflecting on the challenges encountered during the 2023 general elections, Okocha highlighted the unfortunate impediments faced by President Tinubu’s supporters within APC in the state, citing undue threats from the then-party leadership.
“A time came in Rivers State when we could not campaign for our presidential candidate using the party platform upon which he emerged because we were threatened by the entire leadership of APC in Rivers State.
“They told us that the man we were supporting, Bola Tinubu, was too old and that he had become senile. How can we support a man who will die any moment soon, that he was at the departure lounge?
“They said to us that we were supporting a man who is medically unfit and was using all the social media platforms to paint him as someone who defecates on himself. I want to state here that President Tinubu is the best thing that happened to Nigeria,” he said.
On the challenges faced by the Nigerian economy, Okocha insisted that Tinubu cannot, in one year, solve the problems the country has accumulated over the past 30 years.
“Rome was not built in a day. Nigeria suffered setbacks—political, economic, socio-cultural—and we have a leader who just came on the throne for nearly one year.
“Can he possibly upturn the mistakes of 30 or 50 years in one year? So it’s a process and the process began the same day he took the oath of office. The President was very clear when he said that he wanted to fix Nigeria and he said that fuel subsidies were gone.
“Today, states, federal, and local government areas are packing money in billions for the development of the state. I am aware that the first and biggest project that will transverse the length and breadth of Nigeria is being carried out under Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Okocha said.
