A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has rejected claims by former Rivers South-East Senator, Magnus Abe, that Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, is the leader of the APC in Rivers State. Eze described the claim as irrelevant and misleading, insisting that party leadership can only be determined by registered members of the APC.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Eze argued that neither Abe nor Wike currently belongs to the APC, and therefore neither has the right to speak on its leadership structure in Rivers State. He noted that Abe left the APC ahead of the 2023 governorship election to contest under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), while Wike has remained outside the APC after his exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The APC chieftain also recalled past elections to question the influence of both men, stating that Abe failed to win his own polling unit during the 2023 polls, while Wike could not secure victory for his preferred presidential candidate in his unit. According to Eze, these facts weaken any claim that either of them can determine or control APC leadership in the state.

Eze maintained that the leadership of the APC in Rivers State has already been clarified by the party and President Bola Tinubu. He stressed that party leadership is an internal matter guided by structure and membership, urging the public to ignore statements he described as distractions that add no value to the party’s growth and unity in Rivers State.