The Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju tells DENNIS NAKU his thoughts on former governor Nyesom Wike’s frequent visit to President Bola Tinubu, the perceived silence of a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and other issues in the state
When Bola Tinubu as the President-elect visited Rivers State, the APC in the state said they were not carried along, what’s the situation of things now?
We said we were not carried along; it was a Rivers State Government event. Given the history of events between our party and the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, it would be foolhardy for either our governorship candidate or any of us genuinely in the APC to be part of a Wike event. Some people forget that PDP thugs invaded our party office on April 3, 2023 after our governorship candidate was assaulted on his way to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Port Harcourt, in addition to the attacks on our members and even the killings.
Wike has visited the President twice in one week and many people have come up with different insinuations. How does your party feel about this?
Our governorship candidate visited him as the President-elect twice in two days in April alone and he has always had a very cordial relationship with that family, so there’s fuss about Wike’s visits? However, we are not surprised that the same man who said all sorts in the very recent past against APC is now seen more often in bed with APC leaders. It’s interesting and I think the media should ask him why.
Some have said he might join the APC while some said he was only lobbying for an appointment, what do you think is happening?
The most important thing the public should be interested in is why the somersault? Why the obvious show of inconsistency? Why the doublespeak? We think Wike is much more interested in circulating around the corridors of power than what people say or think about his person. Considering the humongous vile he had poured on the APC, our worry is that Nigerians forget so easily. There was a campaign kite Wike’s PDP flew against the launch of APC in Rivers State by the former Transportation Minister (Rotimi Amaechi). The sentiments and slur directed at APC leaders and members alike for signing up or campaigning for an Islamic party. In fact, when the former transportation minister and leader of our party introduced this same APC in Rivers State, he told Rivers people that the PDP had not attracted anything to the state and so there was need to move to another platform. As at today, all that our leader said including the fact that PDP did nothing in Rivers State for 16yrs have all been confirmed by Wike. So, why did APC members have to suffer attacks since 2015 just for belonging to the APC? What is the justification for all those killed in the name of elections in the state? If so much hate speech and violence were recorded in the state since 2015 till date, what and how can restitutions be made? How can the baggage that comes with such a somersault be explained to any moral agent or person with conscience?
He has said he would consult his wife if offered an appointment and that he was not too big to serve Nigeria, some people feel he was seeking attention, what did you deduce from those comments?
As a party, we cannot analyse Wike’s private discussions with his wife. Anybody’s bedroom talk is none of our business. Any individual who reads between the lines should ordinarily have an answer to this question. The burden remains with the individual who does frequent flip-flops and expects the public to be hoodwinked. But we all know who told the world that he was not ready to play second fiddle to anybody.
As a grassroots politician and a former governor with a lot of influence, will your party be happy to receive him if he chooses to defect or you think he won’t be welcome?
True, the party is not a private estate and some have likened political parties, especially in Nigeria, to a hospital where all manner of persons are admitted. Parties in this part of the world are not built on ideologies but mainly marriages of convenience. However, the case of Rivers State is peculiar given the bitter history of our recent political history. We have already highlighted some of the challenges we have faced as a party since 2014 – from attacks on our campaigns in Okrika during the 2015 elections to the bombing of the venue of our campaign at Rumuwoji in 2023. It will be heartrending for our party faithful across the 319 wards to hear that those who ceaselessly promoted anti-APC narratives will turn around to fly our party colours. There are deeper issues that require very keen introspection, soul-searching and reflections.
Many people are concerned about Rotimi Amaechi, why has he gone quiet in your party?
Nigerians saw him when he walked round major markets in Port Harcourt campaigning for the APC. You must also understand that as of today, the party has a governorship candidate who is at the forefront of events when it comes to APC in Rivers State. If your thinking is that our leader has gone quiet, it might be based on your perception. Political visibility during and after elections are two different issues. The former minister is very accessible. 0.You may also wish to know that he is a law school student and has been pursuing his academic work.
Amaechi was absent when Tinubu visited Rivers to campaign before the elections. During the inauguration on May 29, Amaechi attended the swearing-in of Alex Otti of Labour Party as the governor of Abia State. What do you make of insinuations that he is not happy with Tinubu’s emergence?
A day after the presidential primary result of the APC was announced, our leader congratulated the winner of that primary in a letter he personally signed. When he visited Port Harcourt after the primaries, he told his supporters to vote for the APC no matter what. He even had a media chat within the secretariat, and he answered the 12 questions thrown at him. As for the reason why he chose to attend the Abia State inauguration, I have not discussed that with him but you saw pictures of the celebration of the presidential inauguration at the Rivers State APC state secretariat where the event was monitored by our members via zoom. You also would have noticed our governorship candidate led other party stakeholders to the Eagle Square for that event.
Some people have said Wike deserves an appointment under this government because he helped Tinubu to win Rivers State in the presidential election. What do you make of that?
No comment.
Wike has said he wouldn’t leave the PDP, do you see the President giving him an appointment?
It is at the discretion of the appointing authority to choose who to appoint. It is an established fact that if those who sacrificed to plant APC in Rivers State had not done so before today, nobody would have been talking about using the APC platform to lobby for positions at the centre. We know the President is a seasoned politician and knows that building the party requires plenty of tact and cannot sacrifice founding members of our party in Rivers State on the altar of making new friends.
Wike has said he’s not too big to serve the country, but his critics are quick to say it’s just a survival tactic, what do you make of that?
What we think is that these are mere survival tactics and we wish him well. President Tinubu is well experienced as a seasoned politician to know that you can’t erect a superstructure on nothing. There is no way those who have laboured to plant and sustain the APC structure in the state can be wished away. If we had all surrendered to intimidation and had been chased away by the fear of the killings, would there have been anything like APC in Rivers State today? Of course, we are here today because we resisted the plot to annihilate everything APC in this state. And if APC hadn’t won in 2015, there wouldn’t have been a platform to run or work with in 2023. There is a saying in Etche language that ‘it is the coconut that gave birth to the kernel’.
Do you agree with those who say Wike’s romance with the President is de-marketing the APC in Rivers State?
Make no mistakes about it; we do not think Mr President would intentionally go out of his way to demarket his political party. Truth is that those who understand what is on ground in Rivers State know for a fact that our party has a huge followership and an organic structure which has survived several failed onslaughts aimed at decapitating us. Those who also know the truth know as a fact that we (Rivers APC) have never lost a free and fair election since 2015 till date. Maybe because there has been this unwritten policy that we must not acquire power by spilling the blood of those we intend to govern. We rejoiced at the signing of the amended Electoral Act (2022) believing it was an opportunity to prove that we had the numbers to take over the Brick House on March 18, 2023 as we dreamt of an end to the era of electoral brigandage in our state since results according to INEC, were to be transmitted online real-time, but what did we see? We believe that so much is contained in the belly of time.
