Before the refutation of the report on the purported meeting between Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in France, there had been some sort of adrenaline rise in some politicians in Port Harcourt. Our Correspondent, IGNATIUS CHUKWU, who captured the drama, reports:
The news that a former presidential aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, met with the former governor of Lagos State and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in France, caused ripples in certain quarters in Rivers State, and anxiety in others.
The source that broke the news (Joe Igbokwe in Lagos) became shaky while the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) debunked the meeting rumour.
First, a seal of silence enveloped PDP top layers and government circles as no top member was ready to allow any word escape from his mouth or betray any opinion.
It was gathered that the alleged trip to meet Tinubu, an APC chieftain, in France was totally unknown to any of the top aides.
Instead, trepidation or cold shivers could easily be detected in the rival political party in the state, the APC. Whereas the APC at the national level may see a Wike entry as a huge mileage, in Rivers State, it could mean trepidation in a section of the party.
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The APC in Rivers State is in two non-compromising camps, one led by the ex-Transportation minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and the other by the ex-senator and governorship aspirant, Magnus Abe, who was Amaechi’s close ally and confidant, especially in the wars with Wike.
Abe was for over three years now being accused by the Amaechi camp of working with Wike (PDP) to block the APC from participation in the 2019 elections in the state, thus giving Wike’s PDP a clean sweep and firm control of structures and benefits of government at all levels in the state. They usually said Abe was given secret shares of the windfalls. He has always denied and waved off the allegations.
There have been speculations that the Abe APC which is very close to Tinubu would welcome any possibility of a Wike defection to the party.
Findings in the Rivers State capital indicate that Wike joining the APC would mean total overthrow of Amaechi which would please the Abe camp. On this score, the news from Igbokwe seemed to send the Abe camp into silent but expectant mood.
On the other hand, the Amaechi camp, which at the moment controls the official structure of the APC in the state, remained mute but anxious. A source said if the news from France proved true, it would mean that the Amaechi control of the APC in the state would come to an abrupt end, something Abe has been angling for, except Amaechi would be party to the negotiations. Many say Tinubu’s body language does not indicate ditching Amaechi for Abe and/or Wike, although politics remains a slippery and treachery-ridden business.
Abe pulled out of the APC governorship primaries in May but has persistently continued to campaign around the state where he says he must be on the ballot, though he has refused to mention the party because all parties have since submitted their governorship candidates.
Many suspect that whatever Abe has up his sleeves (that gives him such definite confidence) must have to do with Tinubu and Wike. It has already been speculated that if Wike moves into the APC, it must be on the condition that he takes over the party structure in Rivers State and may easily substitute the PDP candidate, Sim Fubara, with Abe, since both men are close to Wike.
A source in the state secretariat of the APC told BusinessDay that some APC sections may be expecting Wike but that he and his type are not.
Another source in the party said while they are certain that Wike, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Tinubu now have strong links, but that they are still studying the development to ascertain whether Wike would want to join the APC like Fayose against all his vows, or to stay behind in PDP and work against Atiku Ababakar’s presidential bid.
All the same, the possibility of a meeting between Wike and Tinubu in France seems to disappear in the face of rebuttals by top PDP people and cold feet by those who announced it.
A section of political analysts however, insists that there could not have been these billows of smoke about France meeting without fire.
Some think the men involved may have taken back their steps because of the leakage by an insider who seemed to have jubilated too early. They insist that Igbokwe would not have boldly stated the matter if he did not get such strong indication.
