The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has refuted claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tactically handed over the party’s structure to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Speaking during a live radio programme in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Monday, Okocha said Wike is not a member of the APC but a staunch Peoples Democratic Party member (PDP)
The former Chief of Staff stated that aggrieved APC members making such claims were only economical with the truth and pained that they were removed from office.
Okocha added that Wike has not indicated any interest in leaving the party he laboured to nurture for the ruling party or any other party.
He said: “If you are talking about an alliance, I aligned with Nyesom Wike and I am still aligning with him. The issue of handing over the party to Nyesom Wike; he is not a member of the APC for crying out loud and everybody knows that he is a staunch founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“He has boasted times without number that he has benefited a lot from the PDP and that he was not in a hurry to leave the party. I am not aware; he hasn’t mentioned it to me and he has not mentioned it to anybody.
“Of course, he is not a man that will hide a decision like that from Nigerians. If Wike wishes at any time to enter any other political party different from the PDP, Nigerians will hear; Nigerians will know.
“So, as we speak, he is a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party. For anybody to assume that the President is handing over APC structure to a PDP member, that person will be missing the point.”
Okocha, who is also the representative of Rivers State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), commended the national leadership of the party.
He added: “I am not alone in the business. Like I assured the national chairman, I don’t know how it happened, but I commended their wisdom in assembling eggheads and people who have been in party politics for a long time, builders, people who are worried, people who are agitated, people who want the party, APC to grow from strength to strength.
“That is what they assembled and fortunately, I am the chairman of that group. I think with the experience we have garnered over time, we will put all of these together; put them in one straight jacket and the party will move.”
