The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has said it has not ceded the ministerial slot of the state to the immediate past Governor, Nyesom Wike.
OsunDailyNG reports that Rivers APC stated this in a statement on Wednesday in response to media reports that the party has ceded the state’s ministerial slot to Wike.
In a statement signed by its spokesman, Darlington Nwauju, the Rivers APC said it would never give Wike the chance to be the minister from the state, adding that the burden would be on President Bola Tinubu to respect party supremacy and not consider Wike for appointment.
The party added that it has never had a discussion with the Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council, an APC interest group under the headship of Tony Okocha, over the ministerial appointment.
The statement reads, “We have never interacted with Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council as we have more than a hundred NGOs and support groups who worked for the APC in Rivers.
“No NGO or individual outside the officially recognized party structure has the authority of the state chapter of the party to award any entitlements to the former Governor who is obviously a card carrying member of the PDP.
“For the umpteenth time, Tony Okocha is not member of our party and we have not received any communication from the national secretariat that he has been granted waivers to join. We dispel that sponsored rumour targeted at packaging the political ambition of former governor Wike.
“We reject this obvious public ridicule and assault on our sensibilities as a political party. Assuming without conceding that Wike passed through some back channels to fund APC presidential campaigns in Rivers which the state chapter cannot even account for, does his Greek gift now qualify him to be rewarded with ministerial slot?”
The party said there is no way Wike would enjoy Rivers ministerial slot after he sponsored 12 court actions to stop Rivers APC from fielding candidates for the 2023 elections.
It asserted that the former governor sealed the offices of his opponents and denied parties access to public facilities for campaigns among other allegations.
It added: “If we had all died and the party non-existent in the state, which APC would former Governor Wike have dreamt of benefitting from? Mr President is way too experienced to fall for the disingenuous idea of cutting his nose in order to spite his face.
“To suggest that the President hands ministerial slot meant for Rivers to a PDP ex-Governor is to ask the President to destroy his own party. The burden is on President Tinubu to uphold the principle of party loyalty and supremacy for the fact that there is an official APC structure in Rivers State.”
