Chairperson of the local organising committee for the dissolved Tinubu-Shettima campaign council in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, says immediate past Governor of the State, Nyesom Wike, deserves to be appointed a minister by the President.
Recall that prior to the 2023 elections, Wike led a group of five governors, known as Integrity Group (G-5), that worked against the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The PDP’s in-house crisis however worked in favour of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who won Rivers State.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Okocha, a former chief of staff to APC State leader, Rotimi Amaechi, said Wike worked hard for Tinubu’s victory during the presidential election.
“We gave ourselves a name; an amalgamation of Tinubu, Shettima support groups in Rivers state. It was a coalition of 48 groups.
“Now, the group had met after the election, the group met and we asked ourselves what the position was. In that meeting, it was not part of our agenda. We had a two-point agenda. One, was brief as to what had happened.
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“The second one was, what is the way forward? In the cause of that meeting, a motion was moved to say that we should invite governor Wike to come over to APC and take over the leadership of APC in Rivers.
“When that motion was moved, it was followed with a standing ovation, spontaneous.
“The reason is when Amaechi had left. Magnus left. What remained was the little that I could control and with this amalgamation of support groups, we wooed the PDP. Are you not aware of the G5? Who was the man behind the G5?” Okocha stated.
He however said he would take Wike as his leader if he joins the APC.
“If you have somebody that is more than you, why don’t you invite the person. If he helped us to win in 2023, are we now going to tell him to come to us in 2027 to help us win? Why don’t we bring him in because he has value to add. No politician in Rivers state today can surmount Wike. No one in Rivers State can challenge Wike. He is the best.
“We are saying that whatever is due us as Rivers state should be handed over to Wike because he knows who worked for Tinubu in Rivers. I would have claimed it all because I was the last man standing when everybody took off but we are saying, look, this man contributed more.” he added.
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