Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Rivers State have dumped Tonye Cole, the party’s governorship candidate and pledged to support Siminialaye Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the anointed governorship candidate of the state governor, Nyesom Wike, in the March 11 governorship and State Assembly elections.
This, they said, is a way of reciprocating the support Wike gave the APC presidential candidate which was instrumental in making sure the APC won the state.
The APC members added that without his effort, Tinubu would not have secured up to the 25 per cent vote, which is a constitutional requirement expected from the state.
The chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the APC for the campaign in the state noted that months before the APC presidential primaries, the team had inaugurated structures across the state to canvass support for Tinubu but they faced opposition from the leader of the APC in the state.
Okocha, who is also a member of APC’s PCC and Independent Campaign Council, in the state, also stated that they were denied access to party revalidation, they were also unlawfully excluded from the electioneering processes without regard for the electoral acts.
Okocha noted that in 2015 and 2019 the APC could not win any election in the state and could not also secure 25 per cent of votes for their presidential candidate, Vanguard reported
He said, “We pulled together all efforts individually and collectively, yet we couldn’t secure 25 per cent of the total votes cast for the presidential candidate of our party during the 2015 presidential election.
“It was worse in 2019 when we all still worked together with a super minister, security apparatchik and malleable election personnel, we couldn’t produce the required 25 per cent for our presidential candidate.
“But in 2023, against all expectations, APC Rivers won and secured over 40 per cent of the total votes cast for the presidential candidate of our party.
“Of tremendous note is to put on record the role of governor Wike of Rivers state, a leading member of the G5 Governors (Integrity Group), who threw his heavy weight in political maestro and “maverism” in support of the APC candidate.”
They urged the people of Rivers to vote for the man who will protect the Rivers interest for president of Nigeria.
“This, to say the least, was the game changer. Thank you, governor Wike, the political bulldozer.”
