Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State have expressed their intention to support Siminialaye Fubara, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the preferred choice of the state governor, Nyesom Wike, in the upcoming March 11 governorship and State Assembly elections. They believe this support is a way to reciprocate the assistance Wike provided to the APC’s presidential candidate, which played a crucial role in the APC’s victory in the state. According to these members, without Wike’s efforts, Bola Tinubu would not have achieved the required 25 percent of the votes from Rivers State, a constitutional mandate.
The chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the APC campaign in Rivers State highlighted that months prior to the APC presidential primaries, the team had established structures throughout the state to garner support for Tinubu. However, they encountered significant opposition from the APC’s state leadership. Okocha, a member of both the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council and the Independent Campaign Council in the state, pointed out that they were denied access to party revalidation and were unlawfully excluded from the electoral processes, disregarding the electoral acts.
Okocha reflected on the APC’s past electoral struggles in Rivers State, noting that in both 2015 and 2019, the party failed to win any elections and could not secure the necessary 25 percent of votes for their presidential candidate. He stated, “We pulled together all efforts individually and collectively, yet we couldn’t secure 25 percent of the total votes cast for the presidential candidate of our party during the 2015 presidential election. It was worse in 2019 when we all still worked together with a super minister, security apparatchik, and malleable election personnel, yet we couldn’t produce the required 25 percent for our presidential candidate.”
In contrast, Okocha emphasized that in 2023, against all expectations, the APC in Rivers State secured over 40 percent of the total votes cast for their presidential candidate. He acknowledged the significant contribution of Governor Wike, a prominent member of the G5 Governors (Integrity Group), who utilized his political influence to support the APC candidate. The members urged the people of Rivers State to vote for a candidate who will prioritize their interests in the presidency, stating, “This, to say the least, was the game changer. Thank you, Governor Wike, the political bulldozer.”
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