Can Wike Decide Choice of Rivers’ Voters?

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, may have arrogated to himself the powers he does not have when he told the people of the state to wait for his pronouncements on who they should vote for in the 2023 presidential election, Vanessa Obioha writes

For Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, there is no limit to what he can do to make the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to secure any vote in 2023. Penultimate week, he told members and supporters of the PDP in the state that a decision on who they would vote for president in the 2023 presidential election would soon be taken. 

While inaugurating the Rukpokwu-Igwuruta Link Road in the Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state, the governor enjoined the people to vote for the candidates of the PDP for governorship, House of Assembly and the National Assembly.

“We have started doing Eneka internal roads, phases one and two – Eneka to Igbo Etche. We are doing the SAARs Road, going straight to Rikpogbodu. Remember from Eledo down to Rikpogbodu and Obirikwere road, I was the one who did it. I have now done Rumuakwu – Eneka road; Rumuakwu – Igwuruta link road.

“So, you are the ones owing us now. You did first for us and we retaliated by doing for you. Now, we have come to ask you again to come and do for us. If you do it for us, it means we will come and do it for you again. You will vote for our governor, our senatorial candidates, House of Representatives candidates and Assembly candidates. Then, for the other one, I will come and tell you where you will vote. Don’t worry, calm down. These ones I have mentioned now make sure you come and vote for them. Very soon, we will meet at our houses and make a decision about where we are going. We are still talking,” he said.

Wike asked the people, “will you vote for our governor? Will you vote for our senatorial candidate? Will you vote for House of Representatives candidates? Will you vote for the House of Assembly candidate?”.

The Rivers State governor and his colleagues in the G5, also known as the Integrity Group – Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) – are locked in a protracted feud with the party’s leadership over the refusal of the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to resign, contrary to his alleged promise to quit, if the candidate was picked from the North.

The group has been at loggerheads with Atiku whom they accused of reneging on his alleged promise to ensure the exit of Ayu if the party’s presidential flag bearer emerged from the North. They have insisted that Ayu’s resignation is a condition for supporting Atiku in next year’s election. They have also refrained from campaigning for Atiku.

With Wike’s pronouncements on the PDP crisis and the potential choice of the people of the state, many believe he is playing God.

With the limitless resources at his disposal, the governor believes he can influence the choice of voters in his state.

His continuous campaign for inclusiveness in the national leadership structure of the party and his portrayal of Atiku; Ayu; the party’s running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa and other Atiku’s men in the state as betrayers, liars, haters of Rivers State and divisive leaders, are some of the deceptive tactics he uses to deceive the people of the state to vote for the presidential candidate of his choice.

It was gathered that any attempt to mention the name of the PDP presidential candidate in the state is viewed as an abomination. Atiku’s photographs have also disappeared from all campaign materials of the PDP in the state and anybody found with any material promoting Atiku is considered an enemy of Rivers.

Rivers youths across the state, including the ones in rural areas are incited daily to comb their areas to identify and remove campaign materials belonging to Atiku and Okowa. It is unlikely for anyone to see any Atiku’s billboard, posters or other campaign materials in the state unlike in 2019 when Wike supported the Adamawa-born politician.

The recent appointments of 200,000 advisers on polling units and over 300 local government liaison officers by the governor were said to have been made to frustrate any plan by Atiku and his men to penetrate the state. Atiku’s loyalists in the state, such as former National Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus; former governor, Celestine Omehia, as well as other leaders like former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Austine Opara, Senator Lee Maeba, and Farah Dagogo, have all since been declared enemies of the state with their businesses being threatened.

Suspected political thugs last Thursday morning invaded the residence of Maeba in the GRA, Phase 3 axis of Port Harcourt, the state capital. Maeba is the chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in the state.

The hoodlums reportedly shot sporadically at his entrance, and eventually broke into the former Senator’s compound, where they reportedly destroyed about five cars, including a jeep, while three persons in the compound, including  Maeba’s relative scampered for safety.

Many pro-Atiku chieftains of PDP in the state have fled the state and are said to be hiding in Abuja without any plan to return home to campaign for their presidential candidate. The ones that are in the state are inactive for fear of being attacked.

For now, it is not clear if it is the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu or Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) that would be Wike’s choice.

 While Obi has visited Wike frequently, Tinubu sent some emissaries to the governor, soliciting support.

Obi visited the state recently to inaugurate a flyover, and Wike used the occasion to promise that the state government would provide all the logistics support for the LP candidate during his campaign in the state.

A few days later, Ebonyi State Governor, David Umayi, who was visiting the state to inaugurate a project, told Wike that the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu needed votes, and not logistics support.

Though Atiku has consistently directed members of his camp not to join issues with or attack Wike and other members of his G-5 governors or Integrity Group, the group has continually been unleashing attacks on the PDP presidential candidate to diminish his electoral fortunes ahead of the elections. Many believe the Rivers State governor is playing God because of the huge resources at his disposal.

However, a PDP campaign spokesman told THISDAY that Wike cannot solely decide the choice of the people of Rivers State. He argued that the governor does not possess the superpowers to solely decide which presidential candidate the people should support or not support.

The spokesman who did not want his name in print also argued that Wike has demonstrated by his misconduct that he is not the people’s moral compass to determine the suitable presidential candidate.

He added that the people have been voting for PDP since 1999, insisting that they will still vote for all PDP candidates in 2023, including Atiku. 

Also reacting, a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) reminded Wike of his assertion when he visited Edo State last May to campaign for the PDP presidential ticket. The BoT member who spoke on condition of anonymity recalled what the Rivers governor told journalists when they asked him why he did not visit the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, during his visit.

“Governor Wike told the journalists that votes are not warehoused in the Edo State Governor’s House and that the votes are with the people on the streets. So, by the same token, Governor Wike must also realise that the votes in Rivers are not warehoused in the Rivers State Government House and that they are with the people on the streets,” the BoT member said.