Top leaders of the All Progressives Congress have declared support for the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, amid renewed hostilities between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said Fubara had the full support of the party for his re-election campaign.
“Nobody can frustrate any APC governor. Fubara, like other APC governors, is running the affairs of his state well,” he added.
Fubara defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling APC on December 9, a move widely regarded as a political realignment for his second-term ambition.
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His defection came shortly after 17 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly also joined the APC.
The National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, had also declared Fubara as the leader of the party in the state.
Yilwatda, who spoke on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme aired on Friday, said, “Governor Fubara is the leader of the APC in Rivers State, but he would need to coordinate with every other person in the state.”
However, a national official of the APC said the FCT minister could not determine the governor’s fate.
The top official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, maintained that Wike’s boast of having Rivers State in his pocket was not true.
“Wike is just unnecessarily agitating himself because ultimately, the decision on Rivers will be that of the President, not him. Wike is not as popular as he is claiming to be. He lost his polling unit in the last election; he lost to the Labour Party. He is just lucky that the President won and felt that he (Wike) was useful to tackle the opposition. It was a tough one winning Rivers State.
“Fubara is a governor of the APC, and the Governors’ Forum of the APC is always a major support for the party. By the rules of our party, we are going to respect the governors and give them the necessary support,” he said.
Speaking on whether the APC would give Fubara an automatic ticket for a second term, the official said the party would not impose candidates.
The national officer, however, explained that any governor seeking re-election would have a brighter chance than fresh contenders.
“The dynamics are always in favour of a sitting governor who is contesting as an incumbent. It is an elementary political thing, unless maybe critical stakeholders at the national level feel otherwise. An incumbent governor stands a better chance than people who are just coming from outside to challenge.
“As far as Rivers is concerned, the state is more or less becoming a one-party state for APC. Even in Ekiti State, some people purchased forms to contest against the governor, but some of them did not scale through proper nomination. The others that scaled through stepped down, and the governor was adopted as a consensus candidate,” he added.
Also commenting on the matter, Basiru told one of our correspondents that the party identified with Fubara.
He noted that the mandate of the National Working Committee of the APC was to rally round the governors and strengthen the party’s structure across the country.
Basiru said the party would support Fubara.
He said, “He is running the government, building projects and commissioning projects. As somebody who is a member of our party, the party must identify with him. And that is why we identify with him. So, whatever other politics there are, I do not want to get involved.
“What I know is that he is a governor on the platform of our party, and he has been appointed as a member of an important committee by President Bola Tinubu to work for the party. Just like in every particular context, not everybody will be happy with you, and it does not matter. It is God who gives power, and the people will determine at the appropriate time where they want to go.
“But as a party, we are still duty-bound to identify with all the governors. I am still bound to identify with and support all members of our party. I attend every programme and activity where my party is involved. I am bound to strengthen and support our party.”
Commenting on the remarks made by the National Vice Chairman of the APC, South-South Zone, Victor Giadom, Basiru cautioned APC leaders against making derogatory remarks about any of the party’s governors.
“I find it unfortunate that a member of the NWC, who is the Vice Chairman of the South-South zone of the APC, was referring to a governor in our party as a ‘so-called governor of Rivers State’. No matter what his allegiances are to anybody, it is unbecoming of somebody holding such a sensitive position, and it should not be encouraged by anybody.
“Even if the governor is not in our party, you can’t refer to an elected governor as a ‘so-called governor’ in order to please anybody. The office of the governor is an exalted position, and whoever is occupying it must be respected, irrespective of whatever political differences you have or whatever animosity exists between them,” he said.
Similarly, the Deputy National Organising Secretary of the APC, Duru Eze, stated that Fubara and other governors had the backing of the President, the APC NWC and the National Executive Committee.
He also affirmed that Fubara and the others would enjoy the same rights and privileges as all party members.
“The leader of the party is President Bola Tinubu. Each of the governors who have come to the party first subscribed to the APC’s constitution and our manifesto.
“They have also received the endorsement of the President, and by extension, that of the NEC and NWC of the party. So, Fubara, other governors and others will get all the necessary support to succeed,” he added.
Also, the Director of Publicity of the party, Bala Ibrahim, noted that Fubara would enjoy the party’s support.
“Not just Fubara, all governors and others joining the APC are doing so because of the achievements of President Bola Tinubu through the Renewed Hope Agenda. They are supporting the President and the party.
“As a result, they will enjoy all the necessary support at all levels because they are now part of the progressives working for the development of Nigeria,” he stated.
This was as the Rivers State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chibike Ikenga, said only Tinubu and the national leadership of the APC would decide Fubara’s re-election.
Ikenga, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH, said Fubara’s admission into the party was sanctioned at the highest level, stressing that only the national authorities could determine his political fate.
“We allowed him (Fubara) to join the party; the President allowed him to join, and the President is the leader and controls the party. So, at that level, they know what he deserves, and once we get the directive from there, we will hit the road,” he said.
Ikenga acknowledged that Wike played a key role in Fubara’s emergence as governor, but argued that political disagreements were not unusual and were being addressed by party leaders.
Dismissing suggestions that Wike could influence the APC’s governorship ticket in Rivers State, Ikenga noted that the former governor was not a member of the party.
“Wike is not a member of the APC and he is not contesting the governorship seat in the state, so why do people want to jump the gun?” Ikenga asked.
( PUNCH ]
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