The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, might be inching closer to joining the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following a meeting between his loyalists within APC and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party led by Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje.
Recently, there were reports in the media suggesting that Wike would soon join the APC. However, this news did not sit well with the faction of the party loyal to the former Governor of Rivers State and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, who immediately opposed the idea.
Despite the opposition, the ruling party included Wike’s name in the campaign council for the Bayelsa state governorship election slated for November 11, which further fueled speculation about his planned defection. However, the party later retracted this decision.
A meeting between the leadership of APC Rivers State and the NWC was held at the national secretariat in Abuja, where Tony Okocha, a former Chief of Staff to Amaechi, led the delegation and described Wike as the “political infantry” in the state. Okocha expressed disappointment that a faction of the party in Rivers State had recently sought political appointments from the NWC, despite working against the party.
Okocha alleged that Amaechi had called a meeting before the election and 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 for the PDP against the party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu. He challenged them to show the results of the Presidential election in their polling units when they next visited the party secretariat.
Ganduje, in response, urged the political actors in the state not to escalate tensions. He acknowledged the factionalism within APC Rivers and emphasized the need for consultation and adherence to the party’s constitution to resolve the issues.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
