Crisis continues to plague the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, as Chief Tony Okocha, the national protocol director of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, has claimed that Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation, is no longer the leader of the APC in the state.
Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Sunday, Chief Okocha alleged that Amaechi voted for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, during the February 25 presidential election in Rivers State.
As a result, he argued, Amaechi could no longer lead the party in the state.
Chief Okocha further claimed that he himself was now the leader of the APC in Rivers State, due to his input and support for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as the support of Rivers people through the instrumentality of state Governor Nyesom Wike.
Chief Okocha went on to allege that the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State, Pastor Tonye Cole, had never worked or supported Tinubu’s presidential bid in the state, and that there was enough evidence to prove that both Amaechi and Cole had voted against Tinubu during the presidential election.
In response, the APC spokesman in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, dismissed Chief Okocha’s claims, stating that he was not even a member of the APC in the state. Nwauju also alleged that the campaign outfit to which Chief Okocha belonged was torn apart due to money allegedly donated by the Governor of Rivers State.
The ongoing crisis in the APC in Rivers State has raised concerns about the party’s ability to present a united front in the upcoming governorship election in the state, which is scheduled to take place on March 11. The APC will be hoping to unseat Governor Wike, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the PDP.
It remains to be seen how the leadership dispute in the APC will be resolved, and whether the party will be able to put aside its differences and mount a serious challenge to the incumbent governor.
