Rivers APC Crisis Deepens As Wike, Abe Jostle For Party’s Control

The crisis within the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has worsened as former Governor, Nyesom Wike inched closer to officially decamping from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) barely 72 hours after Sen. Magnus Abe announced his departure from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to the APC.

Wike, who has come under the hammer in the state for allegedly influencing the decision of 28 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly to decamp from the PDP to the APC, is putting the finishing touches to officially announce his joining of the ruling party.

The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the weekend visited the National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Victor Giadom, in Bera Community, Gokana Local Government Area, the same community Abe hails from.

Although Wike said the visit was not about politics, and should not be misinterpreted, it was a political realignment that is about to create three APC factions led by the immediate past Transportation Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Ameachi, Wike and Abe.

During the visit, Wike said: “Forget about these hungry noisemakers on the road. When the time comes, we will know who is in charge and who is not in charge. There is a time for everything.

“This is not time for politics. When the time comes, we will know who is who. If you like, abuse me as you want. If you like, employ everybody on social media. I have never bothered myself one day to know who is abusing me.

Wike’s visit was received with mixed reactions, but those against it, argue that he had the opportunity of considering an Ogoni as successor or a running mate to Fubara, but didn’t see anyone as qualified for the area.

The faction of Ameachi through Chief Emeka Beke has rejected outright the dissolution of the Chief Emeka Beke-led executive by the acting national chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, on the grounds that the tenure of the party’s executive in the state has not elapsed.

According to findings, despite Amaechi adopting a “sit-down-and-look” approach to the moves by Wike and Abe to take control of the party, his camp is preparing for a long legal battle to take over the party’s leadership from Chief Tony Okocha, a known Wike ally, who Ganduje picked.

Also, Abe, who contested and lost the last governorship election with SDP following the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the APC faction he led, is banking on the cordial relationship he once had with President Bola Tinubu, who visited him in London a few years ago after he was shot at a rally in Port Harcourt.

While Abe is said to be mobilizing support across Ogoni, and at the same time drumming it into the consciousness of voters in the area that Wike abandoned them.

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