Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state on Wednesday hosted Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, at the state’s Government House in Port Harcourt.
Tinubu visited Wike after his campaign in Rivers on Wednesday.
Wike, leader of the G-5, has been up in arms with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and has refused to campaign for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate.
While Atiku canceled his campaign in Rivers after a series of controversy, Tinubu got the campaign venue free of charge, according to reports.
In late 2022, there were reports that Wike held a meeting with Tinubu abroad to perfect the 2023 election strategies, but both sides denied the reports.
Tinubu has held different meetings with Wike in the buildup to the 2023 elections while key APC chieftains have inaugurated projects executed by Wike’s administration.
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had stayed away from Tinubu’s campaign rally in Rivers.
Amaechi, who is the APC leader in the state, came second in the APC Presidential Primaries won by Tinubu,
The absence of the former minister at Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt, venue of the rally, fueled speculations that all is not well between him and the APC presidential candidate.
The State Publicity Secretary of APC, Darlington Nwauju, said that the former Minister could not attend the rally because he was busy academic programmes.
“If you are not aware, the former Transportation Minister is a Law school student and is attending to his academics. But you must also know that Amaechi is firmly in charge of the APC structure in Rivers State,” he stated.
Some allies of Amaechi have frowned at Tinubu’s romance with Wike, estranged ally of the former minister.