Some of the trusted political allies of the Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state are pitching their tent with the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
This is happening at a time when the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is preparing to face the electorate once again in rerun elections following the massive nullification of federal and state legislative elections by a Court of Appeal.
The latest member of Governor Wike’s “kitchen cabinet” is Hon. Ndubuisi Nwankwo who was only last month appointed as member of the Governing Council of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, by the governor.
Ndubuisi Nwankwo who led 87 leaders of the PDP in Omuma local government area of Rivers state to the APC on Sunday, is a former Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, who served during Dr. Peter Odili’s Administration.
The exit of Nwankwo, an engineer by profession and other members of PDP who were received by Hon Asita O. Asita, the deputy governorship candidate of the APC is a major sign that the PDP is cracking.
Asita who received the defectors praised them for their courage to make the shift as the PDP was no longer capable to of leading Nigeria to the expected destination.
Similarly, Chief Matthew Aleru, a stalwart of the PDP in Ikwerre local government area and former managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Basin Authority has also joined the APC.
Also, Mr Igochukwu Dim who ran for the Emohua/Ikwerre federal constituency seat on the platform of the PDP has moved with his teeming supporters to the APC.
Some weeks back, Chief Bekinbo Soberekon, a chieftain of the PDP and two-time governorship aspirant, who contested in the governorship primaries with Wike and others walked into the state secretariat of the APC to register and obtain a membership card.
The continued switch of some PDP leaders to the APC in Rivers state despite the avalanche of appointments recently announced by Governor Wike may be a fulfilment of the statement made by the governorship candidate of the APC, Dr Dakuku Peterside, who claimed that 50 per cent of the people Wike is appointing into various offices were already talking with his party on how to dump the PDP.
At the last count the Governor had appointed about 30 Special Advisers and 24 Commissioners. Some of the Special Advisers are yet to be assigned portfolios and are grumbling over “floating appointments”.