The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State says Governor Nyesom Wike is perfecting plans to join the APC through the “backdoor”, despite mocking the party in the past.
The APC spokesperson in the state, Darlington Nwauju, stated this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Mr Nwauju also accused Mr Wike of “surreptitiously” asking council chairmen in the state to canvass votes for Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate for the 25 February election.
The APC is surprised that Mr Wike, who has frequently derided the party and once described it as a “cancer”, would want to become a member of the party, Mr Nwauju said.
The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council (PDP PCC) in the state made a similar allegation about a week ago that Mr Wike was planning to join the APC.
A Director in the PDP PCC, Abiye Sekibo, who was reacting to the Rivers State Government’s cancellation of the approval earlier granted his party’s campaign council for the use of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, for the 11 February PDP presidential campaign rally, said Governor Wike lacks the courage to publicly canvass votes for Mr Tinubu.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Chris Finebone, has described as “laughable” the allegation that Mr Wike was looking for a back door to join the APC.
Mr Finebone said it was the APC that was running after the governor.
“The high wire politics of Governor Wike is beyond the infantile understanding of little chaps in Rivers APC and their collaborators. Hence, the different wild conjectures. The governor holds (all) the aces and is always ahead of them,” he said.
“Governor Wike and all of us remain solid members of PDP. Losing sleep over who we will vote for president shouldn’t be their headache but if they had chosen to do so, so be it,” he added.