Thousands of youths and other professional persons from over 45 groups said to belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have declared support for the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sim Fubara.
The groups said they were doing so to reciprocate the support by Governor Nyesom Wike to the APC to win the presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
The youth and allied groups said to be 48 in number came to the expansive Obi Wali International Conference Centre on Ada George in Port Harcourt to make the declaration.
The Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi faction of the APC is however, pushing for the success of the APC governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, but Tony Okocha, now leading a rival faction that supported Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said Amaechi is no longer the leader of the party in Rivers State.
Okocha, convener of the stakeholders’ conference on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, said the APC and their support groups for Tinubu would reciprocate the gesture or support of Gov Wike by voting PDP’s Fubara, Wike’s choice.
Addressing the support groups, Wike said all that the G-5 (governors) wanted was equity and justice between the Southern and the Northern parts of Nigeria.
Wike, who was represented by the chairman of PDP in the state, Desmond Akawor, said he decided to support the presidential candidate of the APC when leaders of the party identified with the leadership of Rivers State.
Akawor said: “As you mentioned, core APC people who supported Asiwaju, who supported your party, at a point decided to identify with Rivers State, identify leaders of Rivers State under the leadership of Gov Wike.”
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Speaking on behalf of the support groups, Director of Protocols in the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State, Okocha, said the decision of the support groups was to reciprocate what the governor did for the party during the February 25, 2023 presidential election in the state.
Okocha said: “We have looked at your track record, we have seen indelible marks, we have seen your political achievements in our political landscape and we thought that it is only necessary to have continuation and consolidation.
“Outside continuity and consolidation, we have also found, looking at the mission statement, of one young vibrant man, soft spoken, professional in the person of Siminalaye Fubara. We are also told, Your Excellency, that you support that candidate and so, our people have agreed that we will join you to support that candidate.
“We have said it also good that we reciprocate your gesture that on February 25, when some of our leaders in APC were voting against our presidential candidate, the PDP in Rivers State, under your able leadership was supporting and voting for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Corroborating what the convener said, the coordinator of the groups, Forgive Amakiri, said all support groups that worked for Tinubu have teamed up to support PDP’s governorship candidate to reciprocate the support.
He said Wike has emerged as the leader of the state and since they followed his directives on February 25, they would also follow him on March 18, 2023.
The zonal coordinator of the Tinubu support groups, in his own remarks, said Gov Wike stands for equity, unity and peace in Nigeria and worked for the emergence of a southern president.
