Wike, not our member, doesn’t attend meetings

The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday dismissed insinuation that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, influences the decisions taken by the Rivers State chapter of the party.

The party buttressed his submission, saying the former governor of Rivers is neither a member of the APC nor attend any of their political meetings.

Addressing newsmen at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, the Chairman of Rivers APC caretaker committee, Chief Tony Okocha, disclosed that despite spirited efforts made to woo Wike over to the party, they are fully convinced the FCT minister will remain an ‘unrepentant’ member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

He said: “When I hear this, I laugh because Wike is a member of PDP, unrepentant PDP. We are APC here. Will anybody suggest that because Mr Wike is a minister under our government of APC, we should be at dagger with him?

“Wike doesn’t attend our meeting. I have briefed you here. We have held meetings with stakeholders, but Wike was never there. So at what point does he influence APC in Rivers State? His influence, as much as you know, is because he is a minister under an APC government. So we can’t be in enmity with him. But to say that he influences us, how? Does he pay our bills or attend our meetings? The answer is no.”

Continuing, Okocha also explained why nobody from their camp refers to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as their member again.

Amaechi contested the presidential primary election with the incumbent President Bola Tinubu and lost in 2022.

The former governor has, however, stayed away from the activities of the party since then.

But the Rivers APC chair disclosed that Amaechi had warned the state party secretary not to extend an invitation for any meeting to him again.

“On the issue of Ameachi, I have no question to answer. I was Chief of Staff to Rotimi Amaechi. Recall that at one point, he got into law school and from that one year became incommunicado. You are also aware that after the presidential primary election, he disappeared into thin air.

“So on whether he is still a party member or not, I wouldn’t know because in all the meetings we called, he didn’t show up. Let me give you an example of a meeting we called for all former governors and ministers, he (Amaechi) sent a message to the secretary of the party and warned him to never dare send him a message about the party again.

“So when you meet him, ask him where he belongs. As for me, I don’t know where he belongs,” he explained.