Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers are pondering what will become of them against the ongoing political romance between a former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike and President Bola Tinubu.
Wike, the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Members of the APC in Rivers say they have completely lost out in the state’s political equation as the president prefers to deal with Wike, a PDP member, rather than them.
Despite being a member of the PDP, Wike openly worked for Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
An official of the APC in the state, who did not want his name on print, lamented that after the APC members sacrificed their lives to keep the party since 2015, Tinubu seems to have turned his back on them rather than give them succour as was the case under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The source said: “Tinubu’s actions have finally crushed what is left of the APC or are driving the nail into the coffin of the party in the state.
It is unlikely that the president has forgotten so quickly that it was under the Wike-led PDP in Rivers state that the APC was almost frozen and given several death blows, which significantly paralysed activities of the party in the state from 2015 up until 2019 and beyond.
“Several observers who are very familiar with the political history of the APC in Rivers are worried about the sudden romance of President Tinubu with PDP’s Wike to the detriment of his own party in the state which he personally courted in 2014.”
“It is well within the president’s right and powers to appoint anyone who he considers fit into his cabinet irrespective of political, social, ethnic or religious leanings.
“However, it is equally imperative for the president to understand that such moves shouldn’t be done at the expense of his party and that such actions should have been guided by conscience and the constitutional provisions of his party.
“Article 9 (3) (iii) of the APC constitution clearly provides for rewards and compensation to party members by APC-led governments at all levels.
“The president as leader of his party is bound by conscience and constitution of his party to give members of his party a sense of belonging in his government whether or not he feels their efforts were not enough to have contributed to his victory.”
