Local Government Council elections expected to be organized by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, may be a few months away.
But strategists close to Governor Nyesom Wike and Senator Magnus Abe are allegedly cooking up a plan which may be intended to take Rivers people as well as unsuspecting Nigerians for a ride.
The move is also part of a plot to create an effect which may suggest that the conduct of the local government election, whenever it is organized, is transparent, free and fair.
Already, an argument over the participation of the APC in the proposed council elections has commenced on social media platforms.
It is not clear if the leadership of the Electoral umpire, RSIEC, is part of the purported plan that is currently raising a lot of dust.
“The plot”, said a source in Port Harcourt, “is designed to create an impression that Senator Abe and members of his team which include Hon. Igo Aguma are firmly rooted on the ground in some local government areas of Rivers State.”
The aim, facts emerging from the political grapevine show, is to slam the Minister of Transportation, a sworn opponent of the Rivers Governor and attempt to give the impression that Abe not Amaechi is the strong one who can pull the APC through the electoral minefields of Rivers State and launch the party on the path to electoral victory.
The calculation is based on the assumption that the mainstream APC will not participate in the forthcoming local government elections slated for the first quarter of next year.
Said a PDP member under conditions of anonymity, “Wike is a shrewd politician who can go to any length to get what he wants. That’s the difference between Wike and Amaechi.
“I can confirm that such a plan is on ground, but I doubt that in his fight against Amaechi, Wike will concede so much to Magnus.
“Wike needs Abe in his bid to destabilize the Transportation Minister and the APC. No matter how Abe pretends to be a member of the APC, he is deep rooted in everything that Wike does.
“They say Wike once promised to help him realize his gubernatorial ambition after he (Wike) finishes as governor. We shall see how that plays out, given what most of us in the PDP see as the existence of an Ikwerre agenda.”
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has come out openly to claim that Wike and Abe are working on something that is intended to hurt Amaechi.
Romance of the foxy ones
For now, Abe’s romance with Wike deepens. Although Abe is not seen in public with Wike, most of his men who have jumped ship to join the PDP are seen increasingly around the Rivers Governor.
Within PDP circles, there are claims that Senator Abe may have made contributions to the composition of the State Executive Council.
Abe is not the only one within the APC who is enjoying a sizzling romance with Wike. There are others at large who think Amaechi should not be allowed to emerge as president.
Wike has publicly alluded to that fact, saying there are powerful persons within the APC that are wooing him to abandon the PDP and join them.
Worgu Boms, Abe’s ‘brain box’ similarly hinted at the plot to ensure that Amaechi’s ambition to transform into the next president suffers a shipwreck.
Ahmed Tinubu, Adams Oshiomhole and others are reportedly among a handful of powerful APC members that are teaming up against the purported presidential ambition of Amaechi.
“Wike is known to be working with some of these people”, an APC source revealed, “they are the ones who are fuelling the crisis in the Rivers APC.”
Amaechi may have to dig deep to finds answers to the political puzzles and obstacles that are planned for 2021.
“What the APC thinks it knows is a mere tip of the iceberg. Wike is obsessed with a plot to destroy Amaechi”, a highly respected Rivers citizen revealed to the Telegraph.
Setting up the engine room
In the meantime, the propaganda component that is expected to support the execution of the proposed plot to rubbish Amaechi and reduce him to nothing in the eyes of those who feel he could be trusted to lead the nation is already in the works according to what we are hearing.
Hon. Igo Aguma who claims to be the Acting Chairman of the APC State Caretaker Committee despite clarifications by the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress has been inundated by calls of late.
Those calls are coming from some persons who have come to know of the Wike-Abe deal and who very much want to be beneficiaries of the power sharing plot that is being concocted.
Chimbiko Akarolo, a former Chairman of Port Harcourt Local Government Council under the Amaechi administration is reputedly a close associate of Senator Magnus Abe and Barrister Wogu Boms.
Akarolo who could make a good crooner at the competitive level is currently overseas, but his name is being linked to the PHALGA council elections.
We have confirmed through authoritative sources that Chimbiko is likely to run as the Mayor of Port Harcourt under the plan which could gift some council Chairmanship and councilorship positions to apologists of Senator Abe.
Steve Ndiigbara is reportedly a close pal of Senator Abe. Our finding shows that he is among those from the Ogoni axis who are on the neck of Aguma, urging him to adopt them as potential candidates.
On one or two occasions, Ndiigbara in his desperation has spoke erroneously to someone (name withheld), he had reason to think was Igo Aguma.
The Telegraph has equally spoken to the man who has confirmed that Ndiigbara indeed called him.
The sudden emergence of Davies Ibiamu Ikanya at the round table with Aguma suggests that he may be the anointed one to take charge of Andoni matters.
Ibiamu has seemingly lost out in the fight to control Andoni in the APC to Sampson Ngerebara. Ngerebara, an engineer, was a former Commissioner under the regime of Governor Rufus Ada George.
But the Andoni born politician might be the tool Wike needs to humiliate Prince Uche Secondus.
It is no longer a hidden fact that Wike wants Secondus out of the saddle as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Given the way the Rivers Governor fights, Secondus might be denied the chance to produce the new leaders of the grassroots in his LGA.
Ikanya’s replacement as State chairman of the APC with Ojukaye Flag Amachree may have marked the turning point.
Gokana is the home base of the Senator who apparently is on a revenge mission.
There are strong indications that if Wike is to go through with the plan, Magnus would be expecting his friend to hand over Gokana to him.
Some insiders around Wike warn that such a concession could be dangerous, saying it may make him even more powerful than the plan intends to achieve.
“Wike could be unpredictable. Abe may find out the hard way that his, collaboration with the governor is misplaced. If Wike could turn his back on some of the people who worked tirelessly to put him in office”, says a well informed Government House appointee, “what makes Abe think his would be different? Wike certainly has an exit plan. I doubt Magnus will recover from it when that happens.”
While the fight goes on, Amaechi’s men and their counterparts on Abe’s side are slugging it out on the social media.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze who describes himself as, a foundation member of the APC is insisting that Wike’s ‘evil plot’ designed to mess up Amaechi will not succeed.