By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja

As struggle for who becomes President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s preferred choice for ministerial appointment in Rivers State gathers steam, major stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state have said only efforts made by ex-governor Nyesom Wike, during the February 25 presidential election is recognised.

They said: “Others are trying to reap where they didn’t sow.”

The stakeholders, led by former Chief of Staff to the Rivers State government and stalwart of the party, Chief Tony Okocha, also urged Tinubu to concede the ministerial appointment of Rivers State to Wike, adding that he (Wike) was instrumental to Tinubu’s victory.

Furthermore, he also urged the River State 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Magnus Abe, to stop misleading Nigerians with claims that he worked for Tinubu’s victory.

He said Abe and ex-governor of River State, Chibuike Amaechi, disappeared when they were most needed.

He said: “Neither my former boss nor Magnus played any role whatsoever. In fact, the roles they played were roles of rejection.

“They rejected Tinubu completely. For them now to come to reap where they didn’t sow, it is preposterous. It’s against common sense or reasoning.

“Nature does not accept that kind of a thing where you want to go and reap where you didn’t sow? Even nature says that when you have sown, you can not sow cassava and reap maize.

“But, in this case, they did not sow. So, how would you now, having not sown, want to reap from the sweat of others who volunteered during the wars? Now, we have came back from the war, and we have won, and those who never took part are coming to jump in and out saying that they did this and that. That is our primary concern, and that we may tell the truth.

“If you allow their lies to fester, they may become real and deceive the people with their tissues of lies and we are here to always say no. Reason we said no is that if they take what does not belong to them, they would also not know those who supported it and made the victory possible.

“Magnus left the APC and ported to a party called SDP. He didn’t only port to that party called SDP, he was the governorship candidate of the same party in River State.

“You are aware that SDP had a presidential candidate. There was no collaboration between SDP and APC. There was no accord between APC and SDP vis-a-vis the presidential election and ticket.

“One Oluwale was very frontal campaigning for the SDP as its presidential candidate, and Tinubu was campaigning for APC.

“They all went to the election, there was no point where they were coalescing to walk together. So, Magnus being a candidate of the SDP River state necessarily made him the leader of SDP in River State, could he have left that cause to champion Tinubu’s?

“Wouldn’t it amount to the highest level of antiparty? So, these are facts that are just elementary and should not be skewed.”

Speaking further, he also accused Ameachi of being instrumental in the loss of APC during the governorship election in the state.

According to him, I can say that categorically, and with verifiable facts that, yes, he (Ameachi) actually was the reason why APC faltered in River State.

“His nuances, and his demeanour didn’t point to a party that will grow. You cannot know all and do all in a democracy. You gather people in a democracy and allow them to ventilate.

Asked if Wike should be accused of anti-party activities against the PDP, Okocha explained: “Wike’s anti-party, that is if you call it anti-party, was legitimate and was official and also it was public.

“He was not alone. You are aware of what they call the G-5 governor. None of those five states that the PDP won.

“River state was PDP and PDP lost, Abia was PDP and PDP lost, Enugu was PDP and PDP lost, Oyo was PDP and PDP lost and Benue was PDP and PDP lost and they sounded it like a song. Everybody knew.

“They said that there was a mis-normal in the party that needed to be made right. That power should shift from the North to the South. Now, when that became almost impossible, they made the burden light and demanded that Ayu should resign but they didn’t.

“So, there was a legitimate reason why Wike worked against his party to deliver Tinubu.”