The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has set up three National Campaign Councils for the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.
Among the members of the campaign team for Bayelsa state is the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, who is still a member of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The three off-season elections are slated for November 11, 2023.
In a statement signed Tuesday by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Mohammed Argungu, in Abuja, said the 123-man Campaign Council for Bayelsa state is headed by the Gombe state Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Cross River state Governor Bassey Otu will chair the 138-member Imo Campaign Council, while Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state will chair a 135-member council for Kogi state.
The three Co-Chairmen for Kogi are governors Babajide Sanwo-olu (Lagos); Umar Bago (Niger) and Uba Sani (Kaduna).
Imo has Ebonyi state Governor Francis Nwifuru, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, and Minister of State, Labour and Employment Nkeiruka Onyejeocha as co-chairmen.
For Bayelsa state, the co-chairmen include; Minister of Defence Mohammed Badaru, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Senator George Akume as co-chairmen.
PDP mum
Efforts to get the party’s national publicity scribe, Debo Ologunagba, and his deputy, Ibrahim Abdullahi to react to this development did not yield results, as they refused to answer and return one of Blueprint correspondents’ calls as at the time of this report.
At a press conference recently addressed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, Blueprint sought for reaction to Wike’s nomination into the Federal Executive Council (FEC) by the ruling party.
Ologunagba reluctantly said, “Our concern is the hardship this clueless APC government imposed on Nigerians. On Wike we will speak when we are ready”.
Upon assumption of office as FCT Minister, Wike revealed that the PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and others were officially informed before he accepted to serve in the ruling APC-led Federal Government.
He said: “Before this appointment came, I wrote to the national chairman. I wrote to the minority leaders of the House of Reps and Senate. I wrote to the zonal chairman of the party and my state chairman. I wrote to my governor and all of them wrote me back and said accept.”
Blueprint efforts to get the PDP National Chairman and the party by extension to either deny or confirm this allegation hit a brick wall, as most members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) chose to keep mum over any issues that involved Wike.
