A prominent member and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha has declared that former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi does not deserve to get any appointment from President Bola Tinubu.
According to Okocha, both Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe worked against Tinubu’s presidential ambition in Rivers State during the 2023 elections.
He alleged that it is an open secret that Amaechi worked for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, while Abe, who obtained the governorship ticket of the Social Democratic Party, supported the SDP flag bearer.
The APC chieftain, therefore, urged Tinubu to give the ministerial slot for Rivers State to former Governor Nyesom Wike.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, Okocha, who was the Chief of Staff to Amaechi when he was the Rivers State governor, said, ‘’The point I’m making is neither Amaechi and his group nor Magnum Abe and his group worked for Tinubu. What helped us in Rivers State is the stupidity of the PDP, we all know. At the centre of that is the spin doctor, Nyesom Wike, governor of my state.
“Since the inception of the PDP in 1998, Rivers State has been a haven for the PDP. It has won elections back to back. Even when we were in government, PDP still defeated us (in Rivers).
“Wike gave instructions to his PDP family because they had no candidate to vote for. (He said) ‘Work with APC,’ and it was me they were coming to work with because I was the arrowhead (of the APC).
‘‘Abe had left, Amaechi had left. I’m bold to say that Wike took care of the election bills. He was the one that paid the piper. Without Wike’s huge support, material and financial, (Peter) Obi could have swept River State.
“Even to localize Wike to Rivers State, you are short-cutting and short-circuiting his influence. If the G-5 governors were intact with the PDP, PDP would have won.’’
He argued that Wike supported Tinubu’s presidential ambition financially and materially and without the support, the APC might not have won in Rivers State.
“If Wike, who was in the PDP, could support the APC to win, why is it that the APC, having won, cannot also recompense the man who helped us to win?”
Reactions From APC, Abe Camps
However, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, when contacted by Punch, disagreed with the position of Okocha.
According to him, Okocha has no right to speak on behalf of Rivers APC because he is no longer a member of the party.
“He is not our member. Please cross-check with records of membership domiciled with both the national secretariat and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“ So, whatever opinions or ideas he canvasses to the media makes no meaning to everybody in APC in Nigeria and amounts to tales by moonlight.
“Nigerians know who the leader of APC in Rivers State is, coupled with the fact that the APC structure is intact and unshaken. Whosoever is running commentaries in the name of APC in Rivers State is a meddlesome interloper and an uninvited tombo fly!,” Nwauju said.
Similarly, an ally of Senator Abe, Chief Kadilo Kabari, in reaction to the submission by Okocha, said the politician is only on a campaign of calumny.
Kabari described Okocha as a “serial betrayer, conflict entrepreneur and shameless apologist of Wike.”
