Tinubu-Wike Deal For Rivers State Guber Election Falls Apart Amid Allegation Governor Drinks N50m Worth Of Alcohol Weekly

The reported secret deal entered into by then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has reportedly failed, THE WHISTLER can report.

Both had met in the state ahead of the presidential election and agreed on specific terms regarding the presidential election and the governorship election in the state.

Although Wike had equally met some presidential candidates such as Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, he however chose to back Tinubu in the hope that his anointed successor, Siminialaye Fubara, would be backed for governorship.

Sources reported that the private agreement would ensure Tinubu would rally the APC national headquarters to mobilise the Rivers State chapter of the APC to support the election of Wike’s anointed successor.

But that has failed to materialise as the APC has rather chosen to identify with its candidate, Tonye Cole, and has deepened the campaign with massive mobilisation in the hope that he would emerge the winner on Saturday.

The development has unsettled the PDP Rivers State chapter, which is operating independently from the PDP national headquarters due to schism in the party.

At Wike’s control, the PDP Rivers State chapter has been cut off from the National Leadership following his antics against the party.

He was aggrieved at the outcome of the party’s 2022 presidential primary election and how he was ignored by the eventual winner, Atiku Abubakar for Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the vice presidential running mate.

The former minister of state for education rallied four other governors to boycott the presidential campaign of the PDP and went ahead to enter into an agreement with Tinubu where he supported his presidential ambition.

Wike eventually ensured the Rivers State chapter of the PDP supported Tinubu until he emerged the winner of the state presidential election ahead of the Labour Party.

But all efforts to ensure the collapse of the APC Rivers State structure has failed and has rather been boosted by strong support from the national leadership.

It was gathered that the Rivers governor has also made efforts to reach the president-elect but has been unsuccessful.

Sources said it was not politically beneficial for the APC national leadership to support the PDP candidate in a state like River when the presidential election has come and gone.

According to the APC camp, any agreement entered into that Tinubu would support the PDP candidate couldn’t have stood regardless of the outcome of the election.

The development has created anxiety in the Wike camp especially as the APC candidate has grown from strength to strength following strong support from the APC leadership.

It was also gathered that the agreement that top members of the APC in Rivers State would endorse the PDP governorship candidate has also failed to materialise.

This is unfolding on the heels of a diatribe by the former Rivers State governor and immediate past minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, where he accused his successor of drinking alcohol worth N50 million weekly, pointing out that it is a waste of state resources.

Amaechi, who is leading the Tonye Cole campaign organisation of the APC for the Saturday governorship election lambasted his former political ally for allegedly usually drunk instead of facing governance.

Amaechi said, “The person Wike buys alcohol from, said Wike spends 50 million naira every week on alcohol.

“The primary school we built is 112 million naira, which means that in two weeks, Wike has drunk one primary school.

“When Wike talks, it is alcohol that is talking. And he’s so shameless about it. Wike told the whole world on live TV that he was drinking a very expensive 40 year old whiskey, in the morning.

“We are asking INEC to be neutral. The people have rejected Wike and his government. Every street I went to, people were jumping on top of me shouting.

“They were remembering that I built 5 flyovers, I did not dance. We employed 400 new doctors, bought cars for 600 doctors, bought ambulances for all the health centres.

“We went round primary schools to see what’s going on, and discovered there were no teachers, so we hired 13,200 teachers.

“By the time I left as governor, there was a contractor in every school to maintain the school. Where are the schools that he (Wike) built,” Amaechi asked.