Nyesom Wike Moves To Harvest The Soul Of Rivers APC
OpenLife Nigeria reports that beyond the pursuit of 2027 presidential and governorship goals in Rivers State, major gladiators like Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Barrister, Nyesom Wike and governor Simi Fubara are in the trenches on who becomes Rivers’ APC chairmanship in a Congress billed to hold February 2026.
At the moment, insiders aver that the politicking and intrigues over who becomes the next Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, have almost reached a fever-pitch.
While outsiders might be waiting for February 2, 2026, when the party’s National Secretariat is expected to publish the Notice of Congresses to State/FCT Chapters, insiders have plunged into lobbying to sell their preferred choices and candidates.
One such high-stakes maneuvering is who becomes the next State Chairman of the ruling party in Rivers State.
With the intense interest Nigeria’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Nyesom Wike, has shown in the internal affairs of APC despite not holding its membership card, the stakes keep getting higher.
At a campaign rally yesterday in one of the local government areas in Rivers State, Wike claimed he was building a “rainbow coalition” of APC and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
The Neighbourhood Newspaper can authoritatively report that three names have been on the lips of Abuja’s high and mighty who control the APC and invariably allot favours to members.
An insider source told this medium on Wednesday that among the three names was His Excellency, Oji Ngofa, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands, and one-time Deputy National Secretary of the party.
“There is a strong push to bring him into the state leadership of the party at this time”, the knowledgeable source told this medium. This source, however, disclosed that Mr. Wike has been pushing for Tony Okocha, his known ally and “Man Friday”.
A no-nonsense grassroots mobiliser with statewide influence, Ngofa holds the political landscape of Eleme, Nigeria’s oil and gas hub, in the fashion his father, Chief Nwosu Alale Ngofa, though late, held education in Rivers State.
He was a renowned teacher by profession who later became State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and later served as the Honourable Commissioner for Education in Rivers State.
Eleme was the only local government that the rampaging Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, could not overrun during the 2015 governorship election.
Despite Nyesom Wike’s attempts then, being PDP’s governorship candidate, and enjoying the support of Dame Patience Jonathan, wife of then President Goodluck Jonathan, to overrun Eleme with “Federal Mighty”, Ngofa built a fortress impregnable that at the end of the voting and open counting, APC had won.
Strangely though, as was the case across Rivers, when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared its own result, what played out in the 2023 presidential election in the state where in actual vote count Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, secured commanding lead all over Rivers, Bola Tinubu of the APC had the highest number of valid votes, occurred.
In the Eleme case, INEC declared that Wike of the PDP had 31,225 votes, Dr. Dakuku Peterside (APC) 1, 848, and Tonye Princewill of Labour Party, LP, had paltry 72.
Oji Ngofa’s political ascent was rooted in tangible performance at the third tier of government. Serving as the Executive Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area (2008–2014), Ngofa distinguished himself in a region often characterized by complex political tensions.
His tenure was marked by a focus on “people-oriented” projects – road construction, healthcare expansion, and educational infrastructure – which earned him the award for “Best Performing Local Government Chairman in Rivers State” in 2009.
Always known for taking political risks, Ngofa’s Eleme was the first local government in Rivers State where APC was launched in early 2014.
APC was officially launched in Rivers State under the leadership of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in late 2013, following a period of intense political friction within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On November 26, 2013, after weeks of consultation and high-level visits from APC leaders like Bola Tinubu and Muhammadu Buhari to Government House, Port Harcourt, Amaechi formally announced his defection to the APC. That was followed on November 27, 2013, with the state launch of the party.
In early 2014, following the formal defection of Governor Amaechi from the PDP in November 2013, Ngofa chose to do same. So in January 2014, APC was formally born in Eleme, becoming the first council.
Ngofa, who was the Executive Chairman of Eleme LGA at the time, was one of the first and most loyal local government chairmen to follow Amaechi into the APC, effectively moving the entire local government administration and political machinery into the new opposition party.
Ngofa took between December 2013 and March 2014, to mobilise key stakeholders. He mobilized councilors, supervisors, and community leaders in Eleme to join the APC. This transition was marked by a series of sensitization tours across the 10 wards of Eleme including Ogale, Onne, and Ebubu.
And in March 2014, a formal “unveiling” and inauguration of the APC Eleme Chapter took place. During this event, PDP flags were symbolically lowered and APC flags raised at the local government secretariat and various ward offices.
On December 10, 2025, when Governor Fubara officially announced his defection to APC, Ngofa was a key figure present at this historic meeting. This move effectively unified the Fubara-led “Sim Movement” with the national ruling party, marking a full-circle moment for Ngofa.
“We are the ones who will give that support, and we will give it with a loud ovation because we know the people of Rivers State are with us”, Ngofa had told journalists at the venue.
With APC’s Elective Congresses by the corner, alignments and re-alignments are expected to intensify.
Going by the party’s published timetable, Purchase & Submission of Forms (Ward/LGA) is to start February 4 – 9, 2026; Screening of Aspirants (Ward/LGA), February 11 – 13, 2026; Ward Congresses, Wednesday, February 18, 2026;
Local Government Area (LGA) Congresses Monday, February 23, 2026; State Congresses Saturday, March 7, 2026; Zonal Congresses (Six Geopolitical Zones), Saturday, March 21, 2026; National Convention March 25 – 28, 2026.
The time is ticking, and Ngofa might just be the next State Chairman, APC. With Ngofa in the office, Governor Siminalayi Fubara will focus on governance as Ngofa shall secure the politics of his Administration in firm anchor-grip.
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