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| Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike |
The report that Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, spent a whopping N15.5 billion of Rivers State resources to sponsor Saturday’s Elective National Convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and install his lackey, Prince Uche Secondus, as the new National Chairman of the party came to us as a political party as shocking, unfortunate, unacceptable and condemnable.
Other States and interest groups may find this as historical but those of us from Rivers State, this is a wicked ploy to siphon and waste our hard earned funds for a venture that will not benefit our State in any way.
The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) made the condemnation in a statement issued on Monday in the state capital, Port Harcourt.
Let us reiterate that, “We are truly miffed and embarrassed about the damning report reaching us indicating that Governor Wike wasted a whopping sum of N15.5 billion of Rivers State funds to finance the candidature of his stooge, Prince Uche Secondus, for the office of the National Chairman of PDP,” the party said in the statement signed by the State Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
The statement further stated that this was in addition to the allegation that Governor Wike spent another staggering N7 billion to secure favourable judgment for the erstwhile Ahmed Makarfi Caretaker Committee of PDP during its tussle with the party’s out-of-favour National Chairman, Senator Ali Mod-Sheriff, who has been frustrated out of PDP by Wike and his cohorts.
Supporting the inglorious role that Wike may have played in the PDP Convention, former President, General Badamsi Babangida some days ago cried out of the plot to monetised the PDP Convention. In the same vein, Chief Bode George erstwhile Deputy National Chairman of PDP and one of the Chairmanship candidates have to withdraw his candidature stating that the Yoruba people have been maligned, denigrated and debased by Gov. Wike. And that he Governor Nyesom Wike must offer an unreserved apology to the Yoruba race for debasing them. This act has created dark picture between the Yorubas and the Rivers people and we wish to dissociate ourselves as a party from this unfortunate act. This public show of bizarre undemocratic acts spearheaded by Governor Wike that portrays our State in such unacceptable bad light is condemnable.
Further linking our dear Governor with such heinous undemocratic act of circulating a UNITY LIST containing the names of winners of the convention even before the commencement of the convention that made Prof. Tunde Adeniran the only candidate from the South West left to contest the election to reject the conduct of the election exercise even before the results was announced repositions PDP as a party doomed and Governor Wike as its nemesis.
Rivers APC described as shameful, a situation where Governor Wike has abandoned governance in Rivers State, denying the State dividends of democracy, only to use Rivers funds to play Father Christmas in his dying party.”
Continuing, the statement said: “We have always been aware of the notoriety of Governor Wike in acts like this, so we are not surprised that he is today derisively referred to as The Port Harcourt ATM by PDP top stakeholders on account of his huge financial inducement as he is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to take full control of PDP ahead of the 2019 general elections.
“Governor Wike has a reputation of heavy financial inducements; his name has cropped up in every major political bribery saga since 2015. He was caught on tape compromising and threatening INEC officials who were in the State to conduct the several re-run elections and most of the victims of his financial inducement are in currently either in jail or dead.
“Sadly, back home in Rivers State, the government owes a lot of backlog in salaries to civil servants and arrears of pension to pensioners. The Governor is also known for embarking on low-value projects spiced up with massive media coverage. He has destroyed our education by recalling our students on scholarship overseas, etc, in addition to several other atrocities.”
Rivers APC said it would have asked the State House of Assembly “to investigate all these anomalies but, unfortunately, we have an Assembly that only sits when the Governor wants it to sit.”
The party, therefore, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) “to immediately step in to investigate all these alleged diversion of the public funds of the people of Rivers State into unprofitable ventures and cause those concerned to account and assist to retrieve these sums in order to end the unimaginable ordeal of the good people of Rivers State in Wike’s hands before he completely liquidates the State.”
