All Progressives Congress (APC) has revealed that it is in talks with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to persuade him to join the party and become its leader in Rivers.
Wike, who served as the governor of Rivers from 2019 to 2023, has been at loggerheads with his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), since he lost the presidential primary election to Atiku Abubakar in 2023.
He has also fallen out with his successor and former ally, Siminalayi Fubara, who leads a rival faction of the PDP in the State.
The rift between Wike and Fubara led to the split of the State House of Assembly and the defection of 27 pro-Wike lawmakers to the APC last week.
However, the Speaker of the House, Edison Ehie, who is loyal to Fubara, declared their seats vacant on Wednesday, sparking a fresh crisis in the state.
The APC said the move by Ehie showed that the peace initiative brokered by President Bola Tinubu between Wike and Fubara had failed.
The chairman of the APC caretaker committee in Rivers, Tony Okocha, stated this on Thursday while addressing journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, after meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
Okocha said the APC was confident of winning Rivers in the next elections and that Wike would be welcomed as the leader of the party in the state if he decides to join.
He said, “We want APC to win Rivers this time, and when he (Wike) comes, he will be the leader of the party in the state.”
He also dismissed the recent passage of the 2024 budget by four members of the House loyal to Fubara, saying it was illegal and invalid.
He said the APC lawmakers were considering impeaching Fubara over various constitutional violations.
He said, “Impeachment is a democratic process. Impeachment is not a coup detat.”
Okocha condemned the demolition of the House of Assembly complex by the state government, saying it was an attempt to suppress the opposition.
He said the APC lawmakers would continue to hold their sessions in any location, as long as they had the mace, which was the symbol of authority of the House.
“What makes an assembly is not the structure, but the human beings in that assembly. So, an assembly can be moved to anywhere, provided the mace which is its symbol of authority is there. As at yesterday, about 27 members sat and took far-reaching decisions on state matters,” he added.