You Have No Business Dictating To Us – Rivers APC Chieftain Knocks Wike, Backs Bashiru

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, has aligned with the party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, insisting that non-members have no right to interfere in the party’s internal affairs.

Nwauju stated this on Tuesday while speaking on The Morning Brief on Channels Television, saying recent developments had justified the position held by his faction within the party.

According to him, Basiru, whom he described as being well-placed to speak on party policy, had made it clear that individuals who are not members of the APC should not dictate how the party is run in Rivers State.

“Today, I am glad that our stance has been justified with the fact that our National Secretary has made a very clear statement that persons who are non-members of our political party have no business dictating to us how the party should be run in Rivers State,” Nwauju said.

He added that his group fully aligns with Basiru’s position, describing it as the correct approach for the party at both state and national levels.

Nwauju argued that the APC now has a sitting governor in Rivers State and that, by the party’s constitution and long-standing convention, the governor automatically becomes the leader of the party in the state.

According to him, it would be inappropriate for a non-APC member to attempt to influence how the party relates with its governor or manages its internal affairs.

“APC now has a sitting governor in our midst and by the force of our own convention, by our own practice as APC in Nigeria, the governor automatically becomes the leader of the party in Rivers State.

“So, there is no way that a non-APC member can be dictating to the APC how to treat or how to associate with our governor who is a member of the political party,” he said.

Nwauju expressed confidence that the APC National Working Committee would adopt the position articulated by Basiru as its official stance on Rivers State.

His comments followed Basiru’s recent remark that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, lacks the right to interfere in the affairs of the APC in Rivers State.

The APC scribe had said the former Rivers State governor is not a member of the party and therefore has no locus to dabble in its internal matters.

Wike has, however, warned Basiru to stay out of Rivers State politics.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara last year defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC, weeks after the expiration of his suspension from office.

Wike, who remains in the PDP but serves in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, has had a strained relationship with Fubara in recent months, despite having backed him to emerge as governor.