VANGUARD
AS former governor Nyesom Wike gains prominence in speculations over likely ministerial appointees to form President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has denied ceding the ministerial slot of the state to Wike.
Rivers APC in response to media reports suggesting the party has ceded ministerial slot to Wike said in Port Harcourt Wednesday that the thought has never crossed its mind and the burden would be on President Bola Tinubu to respect party supremacy and not consider Wike for appointment.
The Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council, an APC interest group under the headship of Tony Okocha, former Rivers state Chief of Staff, a staunch loyalist of Wike, had created the impression that Rivers APC has accorded the former governor right of first refusal on Rivers’s choice of ministerial appointee under President Tinubu.
In a response released by Darlington Nwauju, Spokesman, Rivers APC said, “We have never interacted with Amalgamated Bola Tinubu Campaign Council as we have more than a hundred NGOs and support groups who worked for the APC in Rivers.
“No NGO or individual outside the officially recognized party structure has the authority of the state chapter of the party to award any entitlements to the former Governor who is obviously a card carrying member of the PDP.
“For the umpteenth time, Tony Okocha is not member of our party and we have not received any communication from the national secretariat that he has been granted waivers to join. We dispel that sponsored rumour targeted at packaging the political ambition of former governor Wike.
