The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has distanced itself from the upcoming visit of Nigeria’s “President-Elect”, Bola Tinubu, to the state on Wednesday. Tinubu, who, According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, won the presidential election under the APC platform, is visiting to commission a flyover and court building constructed by Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration.
In a statement, the spokesperson of APC in the state, Darlington Nwauju, clarified that the visit is “private and on the invitation of Governor Wike,” with no involvement from the APC in the state. Nwauju also accused Wike of “divisive politics” and “planting seeds of discord amongst opposition political parties.”
According to Nwauju, Wike has been trying to “paint a false perception of the collapse of the APC structure in Rivers State,” even though he had previously “vowed never to have anything to do with the APC.”
“Rivers people already know this is not the correct situation on the ground,” Nwauju said.
Mr Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backed Mr Tinubu in the presidential election after falling out with his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. During Tinubu’s presidential campaign rally in Rivers State, Wike bragged that APC candidates in the state would not win the election and advised Tinubu against investing in them.
The APC spokesperson in the state accused Wike of trying to “prank our President-elect into believing his false narrative that there is no other opposition political party existing in Rivers State.” However, Rivers APC is “focused on pursuing justice by challenging the outcome of the flawed elections” and cannot be distracted by the “antics of Gov. Wike and his co-travellers,” Nwauju said
