Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), has disassociated itself from the Wednesday visit to Part Harcourt by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu
By Emma Ogbuehi
Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), has dissociated itself from the Wednesday visit to Part Harcourt by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu. This is as the governorship candidate of the party Tonye Cole, has explained reasons for his absence during the visit of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu to commission projects in the state.
Cole attributed his action to the state governor, Nyesom Wike, who he accused of not informing the APC about Tinubu’s visit.
According to Cole, the governor should have informed the APC in Rivers state that he was inviting Tinubu and would want the party to be part of the programme. He made the declaration, while speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Thursday.
Cole’s explanation comes on the heels of the Rivers State chapter of the APC dissociating itself from the visit of Tinubu to the state. According to Vanguard, APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Darlington Nwauju, said the party has nothing to do with Tinubu’s visit. He also told Wike “to play less divisive politics and exercise restraint in planting seeds of discord amongst opposition political parties.”
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Cole claimed he was absent during Tinubu’s visit because he was not invited.
He said, “I will describe the visit from two sides. First side of it is the President-elect. As a President-elect of Nigeria, he has the right to go anywhere. And the Rivers State Government invited him, and he has come, honoured that invitation, and has come to Rivers State as a President-elect; with that, we have no problem at all.
“Where the issue is, is that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, ought also to be the governor of all Rivers people. And one of the things that he should have done if he is inviting the President-elect, who is the President-elect of all Nigerians, would have been to call us as APC in Rivers State to inform us that he is inviting the President-elect and would want us to be part of that programme.
“We never got any invitation, I was never invited personally, I was not invited in my private capacity as a candidate of the party, neither was our party, APC, in the State invited to any of those things;
“I believe that is where the difference between the President-elect acting in his capacity as President-elect for all Nigerians and Governor Wike acting in his capacity as a governor of just a particular Rivers people. That is where our disagreement stands.”
Tinubu had, on Wednesday visited Rivers State at the invitation of Wike.
While in Port Harcourt, Tinubu commissioned the Rumuokwuta/Rumuola flyover in Port Harcourt.
