Dakuku Peterside, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has challenged Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike to name his preferred presidential candidate for the February poll.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, also condemned unwarranted attacks on the campaign grounds of the party in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area.
Speaking at the APC rally in Opobo-Nkoro on Monday, January 30, 2023, Peterside, in a statement by his Media Team, claimed that “Wike is not a man of courage, as he wants Nigerians to believe”.
He said: “Wike avoids difficult conversations, lacks vision, and pursues personal interest above people’s interest.
“I dare Wike to tell the people the presidential candidate he is supporting if he is a man. He had promised his fans that he will unveil his candidate latest January but he lacks courage to take a position”.
Dakuku, an illustrious son of Opobo, expressed deep reservations over the attack on APC rally and accused a local government chairman of introducing violence into an area that had been peaceful since 1999.
He said: “It is a shame that they will go to the extent of attacking their fellow Opobo people because of politics, something that has never happened in our political history.
“Opobo people have been known for political tolerance, diplomacy, exposure, and decency but the chairman, acting on the instruction of his gods, has now joined the home of our forebears to the list of flashpoints in Rivers State; this is reckless, irresponsible and disgraceful to say the least.”
The 2015 governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers advised the people of Opobo and Nkoro to choose only a competent “surgeon to perform surgery, competent pilot to fly plane and competent architect to draw houses,” rather than choosing a clan’s man, “who lacks the requisite knowledge to perform any tactical duty”.
Dakuku said: “We cannot choose our clan’s man who is not a doctor to perform surgery or who is not a pilot to fly plane; we cannot go for clan over competence and character.
“The APC has in Tonye Cole, a competent, graceful, intelligent, capable, and read-for-the-job governorship candidate. Our people will vote for the APC from bottom to the top and not amount of intimidation will change that.”
G5 Governors: Wike Warns PDP That Window For Reconciliation With Atiku Will Soon Close
Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has said the G5 Governors would soon shut the door of reconciliation with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The governor stated this on Friday, January 13, 2023, during an interview with BBC Pidgin.
Wike reiterated that their choice of presidential candidate would soon be made known to the public, adding that they were not in a hurry to make a decision on whom to support.
Wike said: “Some people are counting January 4th, 16th. They should calm down. We are all politicians; we have political strategies. I don’t work as an individual. That’s what people don’t understand.
“There are different strategies in going to war. What you see today is not what you see tomorrow. Oh I laugh at them (PDP) when they say we are in touch with so, so governor.”
He clarified that telling the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, that he is a presidential material doesn’t mean that he (Wike) has endorsed Obi.
“If I tell Obi that he is a presidential material, does that mean an endorsement?” Wike queried.
Meanwhile, the governor has urged construction companies handling various projects for the state government to maximise the dry season to achieve commendable feat.
Wike stated this while flagging off the construction of Abua-Emoh-Iyak-Ighom-Elok and Emoh-Egbolom Access Road that held at Okpeden Town Junction in Abua/Odual local council on Friday, January 13, 2023.
He said the project and the earlier one he flagged off recently in the same area were important not only to the Abua/Odual people, but also to the state government, stressing that his administration would not entertain any excuse of delay in completing the project.
The governor noted that the same contractor, Lubrik Construction Company, was luckily handling the road projects. He enthused that Lubrik had already been told to be more serious in giving maximum attention required to the two roads to complete them on schedule.
According to him, more money would be released to the construction company on Monday next week to motivate them to speed up the work.
“I don’t want the contractor to say today is gone, no. You must use the hours you have and continue to work as we flag off the project. So, don’t say today is gone, there is nothing that is gone.
“Every time must be utilised because we are now in dry season. Rivers is a place you don’t know when the rains will start. So, now we have sun, let us utilise it,” he said.
Wike explained that just as his administration was stamping its feet to deliver the two road projects in the area, the Abua/Odual people should be politically vigilant.
Such vigilance, he pointed out, means to guard their votes and deliver them for candidates of the PDP contesting for governorship, National Assembly, and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.
“We also expect that you will also reciprocate what we are doing for you. We have built schools, which every other person may have done. But these roads are very important to us. And I believe that by the time you vote for us in the governorship, the House of Assembly, the Senate, and the House of Representatives elections, obviously, my successor will have no choice but to link you up with bridges over rivers that separate some of your communities so that all of you will be together,” he added.
Source: The Nation
