The victory of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 presidential election in Rivers state still remains a major subject of discussion till today.
Recall that since 1999 up until 2023, no other party apart from the Peoples Democratic Party have been able to win a presidential election in the state.
Speaking on this issue in an interview with Arise , former commissioner for information in Edo state, Kassim Afegbua noted that even former governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi could not deliver Rivers state to Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 despite being a minister.
He said it was the influence of Wike that made it possible for the All Progressives Congress to poll two hundred and thirty one thousand votes in Rivers state as against the eighty eight thousand votes garnered by the Peoples Democratic Party.
According to him, Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers state used his influence to ensure that the 2023 presidential election was won by a southerner.
He said “If you look at the pattern of the results from Rivers state since 1999 up until 2023, no [other] party has won Rivers state. Even when Amaechi in 2019 was a minister and worked for the re-election of Buhari, they never defeated PDP. In 2023, the influence of Wike saw to the point that despite all the crises, insecurity, they (APC) still 231,000 votes, as against PDP’s 88,000 and Labour Party’s 175,000 votes. Wike’s influence also extend to other states. So, G5 played a lot of role to ensure that a southern president emerged.”
Watch from mins 9:40 to 10:51
GiftedWritez (
)
