Newscenter Media News The Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers, r Tony Okocha, said on Thursday the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, would continue to influence the state’s political direction for the next 10 years.
Okocha, who stated this in a chat with journalists, however, declared that the minister and the 27 members of the State House of Assembly who are currently at loggerheads with Governor Siminalayi Fubara are not members of the APC.
He said: “People say Wike has decamped to the APC. They also say that the 27 lawmakers currently fighting with Fubara have defected to the APC.
“I need to make this clear to everyone. Much as I wish to have them in my fold, none of them has agreed to join us.
“I am the one that should know if they did. But they have not.
“What the lawmakers did was a political gimmick.
“I tried to woo them, but they kept vacillating and did not.
“To defect, they must go to their wards, register and get their membership cards. None of them has done that.”
The chairman declared that Wike would not leave the PDP.
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He added: “Wike will never leave the PDP.
“He (Wike) has always said that PDP made him what he is. He has always said that he would remain there.
“He is an ardent believer in PDP. He is not likely to leave that group.”
He, however, said the former Rivers State governor is a member of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Okocha also spoke on Wike’s influence on Rivers’ politics.
He described the minister as a politician who could identify with every good cause irrespective of political party.
“In Rivers, I am 001 in APC, but in the Renewed Hope Agenda, I am 002. Wike is 001.
“Wike has done so much for Rivers, so he is strong.
“In the next 10 years, Wike will continue to influence the political direction in Rivers.
“It will be difficult to uproot him.
“Aside from his many projects scattered throughout the state, he has touched people’s lives directly. Such people will always be behind him.
“Once the cause is good and will give him a platform to serve his people, Wike will be part of it,” the APC chairman concluded.
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