Why We Did Not Field Candidates in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt, Onelga, Says Rivers APC
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has openly defended its controversial decision not to present candidates in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni during the recently concluded local govern
ment elections.
PulseNets learned that the Rivers APC also used the opportunity to extend an invitation to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, urging him to formally cross over to the party.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Tony Okocha, the state caretaker chairman of the APC, explained that the choice to stay out of those three local government areas was a calculated strategy rather than a sign of weakness.
According to Okocha, fielding candidates in those LGAs would have been counterproductive. He stressed that the party lacked the necessary political weight to match the strength of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, particularly in areas where the PDP already had entrenched advantages.
In his words, Okocha told PulseNets, “Elementary economics teaches us about comparative advantage. You don’t invest your resources in places where the outcome is predictable failure. In Port Harcourt City, the PDP candidate was already serving as chairman and had performed well. Naturally, the people were prepared to reward him. Contesting there would have been a wasted effort.”
He continued, “We are not in politics to test the waters; we are in it to win. So, in Obio/Akpor, Phalga, and Onelga, we deliberately held back. That decision was strategic, and today we can say confidently that it paid off.”
On PDP defections
Reports obtained by PulseNets revealed that some APC candidates in the elections were originally PDP members before defecting. Confirming this, Okocha argued that the PDP was in disarray and that the defections were a blessing to the APC.
He explained, “Defection is part of politics. Look at Atiku Abubakar—he has moved across several parties since 1999, each time with the ambition to become president. Nobody condemned him for it. The PDP is broken and losing members daily. For us, it was an opportunity to harvest quality politicians, and we took it.”
Okocha further told PulseNets that many of the defections happened quietly without media attention. “Not every reception has to be public. Some were done covertly for strategic reasons, and the results have been rewarding,” he noted.
He also disclosed that the APC deliberately focused on recruiting politicians with proven records of performance, even if it meant that some long-standing members lost out in the primaries.
Targeting Wike and broader expansion
On the next phase of recruitment, Okocha clarified that the APC is not just eyeing members of the Rivers State House of Assembly but is also targeting bigger political figures.
He said, “We are not stopping at the lawmakers. We are consistently reaching out to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, asking him to join the APC. PDP is collapsing, and the time is ripe for him to move and have peace with us.”
Also Read: Obio/Akpor: Rivers Protests Turn Bloody as Explosion Kills One in Port Harcourt
Okocha insisted that the ultimate goal of the Rivers APC is to take total control of the state’s political space.
PulseNets learnt that the party views Wike’s potential defection as a game-changer that could tilt the balance of political power in Rivers State firmly in favor of the APC.
