Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have said that the former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, decided to pitch his tent with the party having realised that his political career was gone.
The leaders also said Wike, the state’s immediate former governor, was not responsible for the impressive growth of the APC in the state.
Wike, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers, was recently nominated by President Bola Tinubu of the APC, who he was believed to have worked for in the last presidential election after he fell out with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
APC won the presidential election in Rivers, a feat said to have been orchestrated by Wike.
But the APC leaders in the state in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said that APC’s growth in Rivers had been organically steady since 2015 when the party came into being.
The leaders, who stated this in a statement by Darlington Nwajulu, said the party surpassed its votes of 2015 during the 2019 elections, when Wike was seeking reelection on the PDP platform.
They stressed that APC experienced natural, internal growth over time, and because of the efforts of party technocrats in the state, it narrowed and eventually surpassed the lead that PDP had since 2015.
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The statement read: ”Our growth patterns have been consistent since the 2015 presidential onslaught against Rivers APC.
”Our growth from 2015 to 2019 was 23.8 per cent, closing the huge gap of 2015 presidential election.
“Then the 2023 presidential election came in with additional 80,881 votes in favour of APC in Rivers State.
“The question is, where is the helping hand of former Gov Wike, can he claim to have helped Rivers APC with
only 80,881 votes, when our growth showed organic growth since 2019?”
The group further asked whether those singing Wike’s song that he helped Rivers APC, where were the 1,487,075 votes he carried in 2015 in favour of PDP out of the 2,537,590 registered voters in Rivers.
They also asked where the 472,971 votes Wike got for PDP in 2019 presidential election out of the 3,215,273
registered voters in Rivers State were.
”Can a non partyman take over a national ruling party in a state, simply because they claim to have helped the national party in his state with just 80,881 votes when such claims couldn’t be substantiated with empirical data?
“Such is the calamitous quagmire Wike, and his sponsored detractors have caused to their political dynasty.
“There is evidence to prove that Wike did not work for APC, Wike lost his polling unit and lost his ward.
“When he found that his political career was gone, he decided to pitch his tent with APC, just to have a comfort zone to rob APC in Rivers State.”
The group further cleared the air that the difference between APC performance between 2015 and 2019 was 82,000 votes.
“The difference between 2019 and 2023 is 80,000 votes. None of his so- called PDP members worked for us. Some Labour Party and others did for the PDP in their respective polling units.
“These efforts are projected to result in the complete takeover of the state by the APC in 2027,” they stated.
They therefore expressed optimism that with the combined efforts of party technocrats in Rivers, along with the able leadership of President Bola Tinubu, they expected significant progress in the nation’s growth.
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