The recent political romance between the the President and Nyesom Wike may not have been very favorable for the members of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State.
Wike, the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Members of the APC in the state have implied they may have been yanked off the deal table with the President, given his new broker with Wike, a prominent PDP member.
PoliticsNigeria reports that an APC chieftain in the State who pleaded anonymous lamented the level of neglect from the President, amid their sacrifices for the party in Rivers since 2015.
The source said:
“Tinubu’s actions have finally crushed what is left of the APC or are driving the nail into the coffin of the party in the state.
It is unlikely that the president has forgotten so quickly that it was under the Wike-led PDP in Rivers state that the APC was almost frozen and given several death blows, which significantly paralysed activities of the party in the state from 2015 up until 2019 and beyond.
“Several observers who are very familiar with the political history of the APC in Rivers are worried about the sudden romance of President Tinubu with PDP’s Wike to the detriment of his own party in the state which he personally courted in 2014.”
“It is well within the president’s right and powers to appoint anyone who he considers fit into his cabinet irrespective of political, social, ethnic or religious leanings.
“However, it is equally imperative for the president to understand that such moves shouldn’t be done at the expense of his party and that such actions should have been guided by conscience and the constitutional provisions of his party.
“Article 9 (3) (iii) of the APC constitution clearly provides for rewards and compensation to party members by APC-led governments at all levels.
“The president as leader of his party is bound by conscience and constitution of his party to give members of his party a sense of belonging in his government whether or not he feels their efforts were not enough to have contributed to his victory.”
