•Over Control Of RIVERS APC
The contention trailing the pronouncement of Chief Tony Okocha as the new leader of All Progressives Congress APC in Rivers State is now causing ripples in the political party that has former Governor and former Minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as the APC Leader in Rivers State. How Chief Tony Okocha emerged as the leader of APC in Rivers State is a true-life story of political sagacity and enforcement of courage when no one gave Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu hope of success in the 2023 Presidential election but Chief Tony Okocha pushed on with his faith and belief in the Renewed Hope 2023 Project that saw Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu become President-Elect in the February 25th, 2023 Presidential election.
Prior to the 2023 Presidential election former Minister of Transportation Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was the leader of the party in Rivers State irrespective of the fact that Senator Magnus Ngei Abe’s factional group popularly known as Freedom House emerged with Chief Tony Okocha playing major roles in the constitution of the Freedom House APC faction in Rivers state that aligned with Bola Ahmed Tinubu while the 2022 APC Presidential Primary election was conducted in which Amaechi came out as first runner-up. Hence Amaechi’s inability to join Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign team but distanced himself from attending most of the national rallies except two occasions he showed up at Adamawa state and one other, it was concluded that he worked for the Peoples Democratic Party-PDP Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 Presidential election. This has been refuted by Amaechi’s media consultant Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze in the wake of Governor Wike’s show of massive support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in Rivers state during the Presidential election that was conducted on 25th February, 2023.
Secondly immediately Senator Magnus Abe defected to Social Democratic Party-SDP where he emerged as Governorship candidate Chief Tony Okocha remained in APC as the last man standing now retaining his leadership in Rivers State as Leader of BATS Vanguard a political pressure group with headquarters at Abuja that canvassed for votes and support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu across the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria. And the political riff between the incumbent Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike and Chibuike Amaechi created a big vacuum in the leadership of APC in Rivers State immediately Wike directed all his Grassroot Development Initiatives -GDI political pressure Group, over 5,000 Political Advisers appointees, the 32 PDP members of Rivers State House of Assembly, 13 Federal House of Representatives Members and 3-Senatorial candidates including the 23-Local Government Councils Chairmen all to work for the victory of a Southern Presidential candidate being Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Saturday 25th February , 2023 Presidential election, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and his supporters were quickly moved to change their support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying that any successful outcome of such will be attributed to Rivers state Governor Wike. Hence the APC Governorship Candidate in Rivers State Pastor Architect Tonye Cole, National Leaders of APC from Rivers State such as Chief Victor Giadom and Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi others were absent in the payment of homage to Wike at Rivers state Government House prior to the Port Harcourt Presidential rally.
Senator Magnus Ngei Abe who while he was canvassing for votes for the position of Governor, he also expressed support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But in his interaction with Obidient Movement Group in Rivers State comprising the Igbo community in Rivers State that were committed to Labour Party Presidential candidate led to APC National Secretariat taking cognisance of the fact that he was in the same camp with Igbo Voters who came out on Radio and Television to campaign for Senator Magnus Abe. In the emerging list of the formation of the Executive Cabinet of the incoming President, Senator Magnus Abe and Chief Tony Okocha have their names suspected to be in the list given the level of presumed support they gave to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whereas PDP Governor Wike’s influence, it was gathered will have deep impact on the outcome of the list of Ministers from Rivers State in that Executive Cabinet Ministerial list.
After the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President-Elect, Chief Tony Okocha started issuing statements declaring himself as leader of APC in Rivers State thanking Rivers state people for their choice in voting for their most preferred Presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Based on this claim by Tony Okocha, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze a Media Consultant to Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi went public to disclaim the claim that Chief Tony Okocha is now the leader of APC in Rivers State. Thus, he wrote “Rivers State APC Still Intact Under Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi-Eze Dismisses Media report of Multiple Factions.” And not left with that alone Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze in that write-up said “It is tragic folly blended with a perceptible tincture of ignorance for Mr. Tony Okocha to rely on his self-assertion as Coordinator of a Mushroom, inconsequential Social Media group to begin with to arrogate to himself the leadership of a political party which membership he holds not and against which he worked in the March 18th Governorship Polls.
“Recall that one Tony Okocha, a known political jobber and Self-styled Coordinator, South-South, of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Vanguard, one of the Social Media Support groups whose existence was inconsequential to the emergence of Tinubu as President-Elect, has been parading himself as leader of the Rivers APC with careless claim that he delivered the APC Presidential candidate in Rivers State”.
For Chie Eze, the allegation against Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as haven worked and supported PDP during the Presidential election he said “Such report only exists in the figment of the imagination of the schemers who are only working to curry relevance in the Tinubu’s camp and nothing more”. The Media Consultant to Amaechi asked members of the public to discountenance any report of wrong doing against Amaechi on anti-party activities during the presidential election as he described such insinuation being the handiwork of rabble rousers and attention seekers who have no stake in Rivers APC as the party is intact under the leadership of Rt. Honourable Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
For the battle of recognition, that Rivers State APC staunch supporters stood by President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the major cause of leadership crisis going on now in the state. Moreover, when the outgoing Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Ezenwo Wike is a member of PDP but with deep political alliance with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a situation that has left original members of APC in Rivers State with disbelief and wondering if it would be recognised in the reward mechanism of the national Party leadership of APC in the incoming Executive Cabinet formation of President Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
–Emeka AmaeFula
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