The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused a former Minister of Transport and member of the All Progressives Congress, Rotimi Amaechi, of mobilising support for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25, 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
Governor Wike said this against the backdrop of the allegation against Amaechi that he claimed to love the Igbos.
The Governor said that if indeed his predecessor in office loved the Igbos, he would have backed the candidate of the Labour Party in the poll, Peter Obi.
Wike spoke on Thursday at the inauguration of the 10km road constructed by his administration in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Governor, who also received the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the G5 contributed to the actualisation of zoning and power shift to the South.
Justifying the position of G5 on the 2023 polls, Wike said those who violated the provisions of the PDP constitution for rotation of elective and appointive offices would be thrown out of the party.
He said Amaechi’s attempt to reintroduce the long forgotten issue of abandoned property because of his inordinate political agenda smacked of mischief.
He described as preposterous Amaechi’s promise to the Igbo that they would be compensated for abandoned property in the state, if they supported his crony, Tonye Cole, in the governorship election.
Wike said: “We are living in peace, harmony with our (Igbo) brothers and sisters.
“Because he wants to install Tonye Cole, he is now talking about issue we have long forgotten.
“Amaechi, you are half smart.
“You said you love the Igbos, but you supported Atiku for president.
“You refuse to support Obi.
“You didn’t know the Igbos then, that you were supposed to support them.
“When he (Amaechi) was running for president, he said power should come to the South.
“When he lost, he didn’t believe in that again.
“So, power should go to the North so that when the North finishes, he will beg them to give him power.
“No way.
“Within us in our Integrity Group, we agreed that we must make sure power comes to the South and in any state where you have control, if Labour Party comes first, APC must come second.
“If APC comes first, Labour Party must come second, and we did it.
“I am proud to say it.”
Wike also castigated the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Senator Magnus Abe, for lying to the Christian Association of Nigeria that if they supported his ambition, he would sponsors Rivers State people on pilgrimage to Israel.
He declared that currently in the country, no state government could claim it had supported Christendom more than his administration.
The governor said the Rivers State Government had donated N800 million and N500 million respectively to the Anglican and Catholic churches’ university projects.
Wike explained to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership that as an advocate of Southern presidency, it was not possible for him to have worked against the chances of any presidential candidate from the South.
Hee described as untrue allegations against him on the social media that he worked against Obi.
He said: “I supported that power must come to the South.
“When Obi came here, I gave him all the logistics: vehicles, and paid for the stadium, but some other persons applied and I refused.
“You should know me too well by now.
“Obi was running with us.
“I knew when Obi left.
“He was principled and he said he can’t stand it, people should say the truth.
“He went to see Sule Lamido in Jigawa, not in Dutse, but in a village that will take you more than four or five hours drive from Dutse, the capital.
“You know what he told Obi?
“He didn’t tell him that look, you came late and I have chosen somebody.
“He said it is the North that will produce the next president.
“That was how Obi left, saying why is he wasting time.
“Ask him, that’s how he left PDP.
“And that was what I saw at the convention ground.
“Within minutes, knowing that I was going to win, your sons were all the ones who did everything, sabotaged me.
“I said ok, no problem.
“But I still maintained that look, if you have taken the presidential candidate, you can’t take chairmanship again.
“Give us back the chairman and I still stand by that and if you don’t do that, whatever you see, you take.”
Wike said people like him were hated because they spoke their minds always, insisting that he would not apologise to anybody.
He recalled that before the election, the Integrity Group had met in Abuja and took a decision to support the position of the All Progressives Congress governors, who maintained that power must shift to the South in the interest of national unity.
Wike said the G5 agreed that no votes in their states should be ceded to any northern candidate, which was what really happened.
The governor pointed out that the results of election in those states showed that Southern presidential candidates came first and second due to the massive support they got.
He said: “And we also agreed we must vote for the South, no vote for the northern candidate.
“Our contributions, nobody knows.
“If you check the pattern, we agreed, the South must come first and second in any state.
“And check it, all the voting patterns.
“If Labour Party wins here, APC will take second.
“If APC wins here, Labour Party will take second.
“That was our position.
“All my campaigns, nobody can say he heard me abuse Obi or Tinubu.
“I didn’t do that.
“My campaign was against people of impunity who disobeyed the (PDP) constitution by saying there should not be zoning when there is a provision in our party’s constitution that there must be zoning of elective and appointive offices.”
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