…Says without LP candidate North would’ve retained power
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, yesterday described the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, as the hero of the 2023 presidential election.
Wike said the decision of Obi to contest the presidential election under the platform of the Labour Party primarily prevented the North from retaining power after the end of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29 this year.
The governor made the commendation during an interactive meeting with Technical Dealers Association of Nigeria, Computer Dealers Association, Garrison Phone Dealers Association and Building Materials Traders Association in Port Harcourt yesterday.
Wike explained that contrary to insinuation that he did not support Obi, what most people failed to realise was that the Labour Party presidential candidate remains his hero of the election.
His words: “Obi is my hero. If Obi did not contest, power would have gone back to the North. The whole of South-south and Southeast that PDP lost, if Obi did not contest PDP would have won.
“The hero in this election is Obi whether you like it or not. I am not here to please you, Obi is the hero. He may not have been pronounced as the winner, no problem, the law will take its course. If Obi did not run this election, power would have remained in the North. Whether he was declared a winner now or not, history will be on his side that he fought and fought well.”
The Rivers governor said that the reason he did not publicly declare support for any presidential candidate was because the PDP G-5 Governors had unanimously agreed to ensure the emergence of a president from southern Nigeria to succeed President Buhari.
Governor Wike said that while the G-5 Governors assiduously
worked for power to return to the South, the likes of former Rivers State governor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, who is now soliciting Igbo to support APC candidate, Tonye Cole, mobilised votes for Atiku Abubakar.
“If Amaechi loves the Igbo, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want power to return to the South because he lost APC ticket,” he said
He urged the Igbo in Rivers to be wary of Amaechi, who, he said, served as Minister of Transportation for over seven years, but failed to revive eastern ports and railway lines from Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt.
The governor announced the allocation of 150 plots of land to the Computer Dealers Association and 30 plots to Computer Dealers Association to develop an industrial park in Port Harcourt.
Chairmen of the Computer Dealers Association, Mr Anunobi Ikechi and Building Materials Traders Association, Okwudiri Onuorah , assured the governor of their support for the Rivers State PDP governorship candidate, Siminialayi Fubara, in the March 18 governorship election.
