Rivers APC chieftain: Wike worked for Tinubu’s victory, he should be minister

Tony Okocha, chairperson of the local organising committee for the Bola Tinubu campaign council in Rivers, says Nyesom Wike, immediate past governor of the state, deserves to be appointed as a minister by the president.

Ahead of the elections, Wike led a group of five governors, known as G5, that worked against the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The president won Rivers state after polling 231,591 votes.

Okocha said Rotimi Amaechi, his former principal, and Magnus Abe, an ex-senator, did not work for Tinubu’s victory.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Okocha, a former chief of staff to Rotimi Amaechi, said Wike worked hard for Tinubu’s victory during the presidential election.

“We gave ourselves a name; an amalgamation of Tinubu, Shettima support groups in Rivers state. It was a coalition of 48 groups,” he said.

“Now, the group had met after the election, the group met and we asked ourselves what the position was. In that meeting, it was not part of our agenda. We had a two-point agenda. One, was brief as to what had happened.

“The second one was, what is the way forward? In the cause of that meeting, a motion was moved to say that we should invite governor Wike to come over to APC and take over the leadership of APC in Rivers.

“When that motion was moved, it was followed with a standing ovation, spontaneous.

“The reason is when Ameachi had left. Magnus left. What remained was the little that I could control and with this amalgamation of support groups, we wooed the PDP. Are you not aware of the G5? Who was the man behind the G5?”

Okocha said he would take Wike as his leader if he joins the APC.