Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that he is not leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for anybody, but will rather stay to ensure unity, inclusivity, peace and justice in the party.
The governor of Rivers State made the declaration at the state PDP stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House, Port Harcourt, today.
Wike said he will not leave the PDP for whatever cause and anybody, but will stay back to fight and preserve the sanity and peace in the party.
He said he is a man of character, unlike those he said cannot keep their words and walked out of the party at the Eagle Square in Abuja in 2014.
“One thing I have always told people is, if anybody is thinking, doing anything to think that we will leave PDP, foul. We will do the fight in the party.
“We are not like them when, in 2014, they walked out from Eagle Square. They have forgot.
Wike, in a release by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, said: “They walked out and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Is it not correct? Did they remain to fight inside the party? But we remained, they ran away.
“Now, there is a fight in the party, we will not run. We will fight it in this party. Those who run away from fight are weak people. We will not.
“So, everybody should know this is the state where we are. So that nobody tells you all kind of stories.”
Governor Wike insisted that the constitution of the party clearly stated that elective and party offices must be zoned. He added that this should be respected.
He wondered why the former PDP BOT chairman will be pressurised to resign and the PDP national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, is excusing himself from doing what is right.
“You have taken presidential candidate, you have taken party chairman, you have also taken the DG (Director General) of the campaign.
“We are talking about party politics. Decisions are made by the presidential candidate, chairman of the party and the DG of the campaign.
“They are telling you they told the chairman of the BOT to resign. So, you know there is a problem. You said he should go and resign.
“You can put pressure on him to resign when his tenure hasn’t come to an end.” He added: “But you cannot put pressure on the chairman to resign. You think, at our level, you will deceive us. You’ll tell us stories.”
Governor Wike recalled how, “in 2015, the Federal Goverment used the military to invade Rivers State, interfered with and even annulled elections, but were resisted.”
He said he made sure the senatorial results for Rivers East Senatorial District was announced that delivered Senator George Thompson Sekibo and that of Rivers West that produced Senator Betty Apiafi.
Wike alleged that, despite the risk taken to deliver them, the same people are now in Abuja plotting against him.
He however said they [those Rivers State senators in Abuja] would not succeed because God has blessed him.
Wike also clarified that he never promised anybody governorship ticket of the PDP despite the pressure some leaders mounted on him or attempts made to divide the state House of Assembly.
He said, though he could not win the PDP presidential ticket, he actually gave a good account of himself at the party’s primary.
Wike informed that, by next week, Rivers State PDP campaign team will be unveiled and the campaign pattern adopted will be based on the peculiarity of each local government area in the state.
The governor said all PDP candidates in the state will be elected by Rivers people who he said are satisfied with the performance of his administration.
“We will take all. We are taking all because Rivers people are happy with what we have done in this state.
“We have not only provided infrastructure, we have also defended the interest of Rivers State,” Wike added.
He explained that it took courage and firmness for him to protect the interest and assets of Rivers State without compromising it with politics.
Governor Wike said he secured a refund of money which he said was illegally deducted by the Federal Government over the Police Trust Fund.
He added that his administration recovered oil wells wrongly ceded to Imo State and is collecting the accruing revenue from the oil wells in disputed area between Rivers and Bayelsa states.
Wike said the government at the centre would not be able to use the Army and the Police in the 2023 elections, noting that Nigerians will vote for political parties on the basis of their performance.
He cautioned party members who want to be moles and work against the PDP because they were not given the ticket that they sought.
Governor Wike urged party members to be steadfast declaring: “God is on their side, and since they have not known defeat, PDP cannot be defeated in the 2023 general elections in Rivers State.
In his response, Rivers PDP chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, said the party in the state has already passed a vote of confidence on Governor Wike for the way he has piloted the affairs of the state.
He commended the governor for the consistent delivery of projects and defending the interest of the state.
Ambassador Akawor declared that PDP members in the state will continue to follow the leadership that Wike provided.
