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[BREAKING] Rivers APC splits into three as ex-aide announces Amaechi’s sacking, declares self leader

Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) has split into three factions, barely five days to governorship elections.

Two factions had been in existence. There are the one led by former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and the one controlled by the governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Magnus Abe

The newest and third faction emerged, yesterday, as Amaechi’s former Chief of Staff, Tony Okocha, announced the ouster of his boss and declared himself a leader.

Okocha, who served as the South-South Coordinator of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Vanguard, explained that Amaechi, who became the leader of the state APC, when he assumed office as a minister, ceased to be the party’s leader following his alleged support for an opposition candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, during the presidential poll.

He said: “Our former leader, Chibuike Amaechi, a day to the presidential election, ordered his supporters to vote for the presidential candidate of PDP and we have it on record that he also voted for PDP, that disqualifies him as our leader.

“Therefore, I, Tony Okocha, who won election with my own faction for presidential candidate is now the leader of APC in Rivers State.

He insisted that the APC in the state would vote for Governor Nyesom Wike’s candidate during the March 11 governorship election, stressing that it was necessary to reciprocate the gesture of the governor, who supported them to win the presidential poll.

But in his reaction, the APC spokesman in the state, Darlington Nwauju, said Okocha is not a member of APC, but a member of an independent organisation.

He asked: “Is Tony Okocha an APC member? He is merely a member of an independent campaign outfit for Tinubu but not an APC member. Please, ask him to mention the names of just five out of the 27 Exco members of APC in his ward.”

Nwauju said when APC chiefs in Nigeria meet, Okocha would not be there