The chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State said the party has been reduced to a laughing stock by some \u201cdisgruntled leaders\u201d of the party who visit the state on Governor Nyesom Wike\u2019s invitation to commission projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir, it is disheartening to note, that any time these disgruntled leaders of the party with anti-party activities running in their veins, which is their stock in trade, visits Rivers State, they will openly make condemnation and scurrilous remarks, thereby demoralizing the spirited and concerted effort of APC members in Rivers State, all in an attempt to please Governor Nyesom Wike, their pay-master,\u201d state chairman\u00a0Emeka Beke\u00a0said in a protest letter to the party\u2019s National Chairman,\u00a0Abdullahi Adamu, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Mr Beke was reacting to comments made by the former National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, when they visited the state to commission projects executed by Mr Wike.<\/p>\n
Mr Beke in the letter demanded an \u201cunreserved public apology\u201d from Messrs Umahi and Oshiomhole for campaigning against the party in the state, or in the alternative the suspension of the duo for \u201canti-party activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mr Beke, Rivers APC was not bothered about the regular visit of the party leaders but \u201cthey must stop talking trash and campaigning against APC Candidates in Rivers State because they want to over rich themselves anytime they visit Rivers State.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSir, most recently, particularly, on 16 November,\u00a0Mr Oshiomhole visited Rivers State\u00a0on the invitation of Governor Wike to commission the Rumuepirikorm-Ada George Fly-over.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the commissioning, he said \u2018I have seen the reason why Governor Wike used to win APC in Rivers State. Mr Wike has very strong and energetic youths he is working with, which he use to win my party. Wike, will you permit me to go with some of them from Rivers State to Edo State.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSubsequently, on 22 November, Dave Umahi, visited Rivers State on the invitation of Mr Wike to commission the Akpabu-Omudioga-Egbeda Road and he said \u2018Governor Wike you have tried so much, the only day you will see me in Rivers State campaigning is the day we will come here for the Presidential Campaign, apart from that, you will not see me again because all other positions, you will win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Beke said both statements were made on live television and that the party\u2019s national leadership cannot pretend not to be aware of it.<\/p>\n
He questioned why the statements were made during the electioneering period and by those who are leaders of the party in their states and threatened retaliation if the matter is not properly handled.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember, we are not restricted from visiting Edo and Ebonyi States to reply Mr Oshiomole and Mr Umahi while also romancing with the opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile thanking you in anticipation that our request will be implemented, we urge you to make haste while the sun shines as \u2018A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine,\u2019\u2019\u2019 Mr Beke said.<\/p>\n
Rivers APC has witnessed an exodus of its members, including a former spokesperson, Chris Finebone, who also defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state where he was appointed Commissioner for Information a few weeks later.<\/p>\n
After the APC presidential primary where a former governor of the state, Rotimi Ameachi, contested but\u00a0lost to Bola Tinubu, the party in the state has suffered many challenges.<\/p>\n
Mr Amaechi has remained in the party but has not been active in its activities.<\/p>\n
Like Mr Ameachi, the state governor, Mr Wike, was also a presidential candidate but\u00a0lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar\u00a0for the PDP ticket.<\/p>\n
After the primary, Mr Wike fell out with Atiku for allegedly failing to fulfil an alleged promise to ensure the exit of Iyorchia Ayu as the National Chairman of the party.<\/p>\n
Mr Wike now leads a group of five PDP governors (G5) who are demanding the replacement of Mr Ayu with a southerner to correct a \u201cregional imbalance\u201d in the PDP since Messrs Atiku and Ayu are both northerners.<\/p>\n
The G5 members \u2013 including Governors Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Uqwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Mr Wike \u2013 rejected their inclusion in the Atiku presidential campaign council and have continued to boycott the activities of the campaign.<\/p>\n
APC leaders including the party\u2019s presidential candidate, Mr Tinubu, have tried to take advantage of the crisis in the PDP and have sent many emissaries to Mr Wike to solicit his support in next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
The APC governors from the South-west geo-political zone\u00a0had earlier visited Mr Wike\u00a0to woo him to support Mr Tinubu.<\/p>\n
Governor Umahi during his visit to Mr Wike told the Rivers governor that\u00a0Mr Tinubu needed votes in Rivers State and not logistics support\u00a0which Mr Wike had promised the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.<\/p>\n
Governor Wike also invited Messrs Umahi and Oshiomhole to commission projects in the state. During their visits, the two APC leaders commended Mr Wike\u2019s achievements in office.<\/p>\n
\u25aa\ufe0e Source: Premium Times<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State said the party has been reduced to a laughing stock by some \u201cdisgruntled leaders\u201d of the party who visit the state on Governor Nyesom Wike\u2019s invitation to commission projects. \u201cSir, it is disheartening to note, that any time these disgruntled leaders of the party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[189,5331,80],"class_list":["post-61069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-apc","tag-laughing-stock","tag-oshiomhole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}