"I did not pay AAC's Yeeh N200m to defect, he should be praised" – Wike

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, has said that allegation that he paid for the defection of Akpo Bomba Yeeh, the deputy governorship candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is false.

He denied the accusation through Emma Okah, his commissioner for information and communications, on Monday, March 25, saying he did not pay N200 million for Yeeh’s defection, Sahara Reporters reports.

Yeeh earlier announced his defection to the PDP through a letter he sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

He said his decision to defect was based on the fact that there has been a "complete hijack of the structure and administration of our party by a faction of the APC in Rivers state led by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for his personal political ambition".

In reacting to the allegation, Okah said it is totally nonsense to think that the governor paid for the defection.

He said: “The allegation that governor Wike gave AAC’s deputy governorship candidate (Yeeh) N200million is not correct; it is untrue and it is absolute nonsense.

“Chief Yeeh is a respected elder from Ogoni Kingdom and his action by removing himself from being used to destabilise Rivers State and cause pain to the people is commendable.

“Everything is not about money, as there are lots of good people around. We should commend him (Yeeh) for taking the bold and historic step, instead of calling him names.

“Future generations of our people will remember the moral lesson of his present actions.”

Recall that Legit.ng earlier reported that Chief Akpo Bomba Yeeh, the Rivers state deputy governorship candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), defected to the PDP.

Yeeh, after his resignation, visited Governor Nyesom Wike and the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus at the Government House in Port Harcourt.