Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has told the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, that his recent suspension of party members loyal to the G-5 Governors will not help the PDP in the forthcoming polls.
The Governor particularly described the dissolution of the Ekiti State executive committee of the PDP by the Ayu-led NWC as an act of tyranny that would be challenged in court.
He dared Ayu to suspend him or any of the G-5 Governors and warned that the resort to despotism by the Ayu-led NWC would compound the headaches of the party ahead of the polls.
The Governor spoke at the campaign inauguration by the State PDP Campaign Council in Bori, Khana Local Government Area on Saturday, January 21, 2023.
Wike explained the dissolution of the Ekiti State working committee would be challenged in court because there were still members of the PDP, who believed in the rule of law and that the party should respect its constitution.
The Rivers Governor, who referred to Ayu’s punitive measures as total rubbish, said they had gone beyond such decisions.
He said: “Let me also use this opportunity to say to Iyorchia Ayu and his team, your dissolving Ekiti State Exco will not help you in anyway. Your suspending people will not help you in anyway. The battle line has been fully drawn. As I speak to you, we will do everything legally possible to challenge any decision we know is illegal.
“So, don’t think you can threaten people by saying so, so persons have been suspended. Rubbish! Completely rubbish. We are above that level that you think you can threaten anybody, intimidate anybody with whatever illegal decision you have taken.”
The Rivers governor dared Ayu and his co-travellers to extend the despotic tendencies to the G-5 Governors and see if they could withstand the repercussion.
He said: “So, we are waiting for you to announce my own and any other of my friend. Like I have said, when a man says you will not sleep, he too, will he sleep? Will Ayu sleep? Will those his cohorts sleep? So don’t worry, we have the capacity to pay back. We have the capacity to tell you that enough is enough.
“You are doing what will give you more headaches as far as this election is concerned. We are watching and we are waiting for you to announce more of my friends. When a man says you will not sleep, will he sleep too? Will Ayu sleep?”
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
