Some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Thursday, said the former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike ran to the party to save his political career.

They also noted that the former minister of state for education deserved no praise for the growth of the party in the state.

According to a statement signed by the state publicity secretary of the APC in Rivers State, Darlington Nwajulu, on behalf of the party leaders and made available to our correspondent in Abuja, the chieftains said the formation and growth of the APC in the state took “the efforts of several loyal members, who mostly lost their lives in the struggle to ensure a solid party structure in the state.”

The party leaders further noted that it was unfair for President Bola Tinubu to reward a man who piloted affairs when the party faced a lot of onslaughts in the state.

”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 the APC in Rivers State.

“The question is, where is the helping hand of former Governor Wike? Can he claim to have helped Rivers APC with only 80,881 votes, when our growth showed organic growth since 2019?

”Can a non-party man 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 ?”, the chieftains questioned.

Speaking further in the statement, the party leaders noted that Wike pitched tents with the APC to salvage his political career.

They said, “There is evidence to prove that Wike did not work for the APC. When he found out that his political career was gone, he decided to pitch his tent with APC, just to have a comfort zone to rob the APC in Rivers State.” (The PUNCH: Text, Excluding Headline)

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