Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) members have accused President Bola Tinubu of neglecting them and pitching a tent with the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike after they sacrificed so much to nurture the party from 2015 till now.
A reliable source who doesn’t want his name on print confided told our reporter that they sacrificed their lives to keep the party since 2015, but rather than give them succour as was the case under former President Buhari, in an inexplicable twist, President Tinubu seems to have turned his back on his party men in the state with the appointment of former Governor Wike of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into his cabinet as Minister of FCT, a move many has described as shocking and a total disregard to the sensibilities of his party members in Rivers State.
The source said, “Tinubu’s actions have finally crushed what is left of the APC or 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 paralyzed 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.
The source added, “On the flip side, going by the claims in some quarters, President Tinubu’s appointment of Wike a PDP chieftain and presidential aspirant under the PDP as Minister in his cabinet is believed to be a quid pro quo for the alleged electoral favour done him by Wike at the 2023 presidential polls.
“Whether this is true or not, 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, there is a strong argument that 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.
“It expressly states “APC-led government at all levels shall accord priority to members of the party in appointments into boards, ministries, departments and agencies of government.”
“Going by the provisions of the APC constitution as quoted above, what the President should have done, was to use his powers to appoint a second Minister in Rivers State, if he was so convinced that Wike was deserving of a Ministerial appointment, that way, his party members wouldn’t feel marginalised or that their ministerial slot had been ceded to the PDP.
“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.
“The most the President could have done where he felt the efforts of his party members in a particular state were not sufficient was to assign a less “lucrative portfolio” to the state rather than outright deny them their ministerial slot,” the source stated.
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