VAM News Update

Former Rivers State Governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has surfaced on the list of the 123 members of the All Progressives Congress Bayelsa State National Gubernatorial Campaign Council.

The list of yet to be inaugurated Campaign teams released to newsmen on Tuesday was signed by the National Organising Secretary of the party, Suleiman Mohammed Argungu.

Few hours after the list went viral, the APC National Secretariat issued a disclaimer, asking party faithful and Nigerians to disregard the list.

The statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, reads in part:” The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to National Campaign Council Lists for the 11th November 2023 Governorship Elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo States in circulation in sections of the media. The lists are not official documents of the Party and should be disregarded. ”

The list on the Campaign team on Bayelsa which Morka claimed was not the official document from the party has
Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya as Chairman of the Bayelsa State National Campaign Council with three other chieftains of the party as co-chairmen. The list includes Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; former Jigawa State Governor and Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru and Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume.

Checks by Nigerian Tribune revealed that the FCT Minister’s name equally emerged on the list of campaign teams released by the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.

Last month, speculation of Wike dumping the People’s Democratic Party was rife as his name emerged on the list of ministerial nominees sent to the Senate for screening and clearance by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Shortly after his clearance and announcement of his FCT portfolio, the two-term Rivers State governor had claimed that his nomination as Minister-designate enjoyed the blessing of the PDP national leadership.

In his maiden media briefing as FCT Minister, Wike declared that he got the approval of the PDP acting national chairman, Iliya Damagum, to serve in Tinubu’s cabinet.

He said: “They said they’ll sanction me that I took an appointment — that’s ridiculous.
“The president wrote to all the 36 state governors to bring names of people to appoint. Didn’t PDP governors submit names?

“Every PDP governor wrote a letter and nominated 10 persons for appointment in this (Tinubu’s) government.

“Before this appointment came, I wrote to the national party chairman, minority leader of the House of Representatives and Senate, zonal chairman of the party, my state chairman, and my governor.

“All of them wrote me back: ‘Accept it’. I have it in evidence documented.”

Further checks revealed that Wike who contributed to the victory of Tinubu in the last February presidential election in Rivers State, with Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, coming second in the south south states, also worked for the victory of APC favoured candidates as presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly.