Obi Prevented North from Retaining Presidency, Says Wike
· Describes Obi as hero of 2023 presidential poll
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike yesterday noted that the decision of the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi to contest the last presidential election prevented the north from retaining the presidency.
Contrary to insinuation that he did not support Obi, Wike added that what most people failed to realise “is that LP’s presidential candidate remains his hero of the 2023 presidential election.”
He made the remarks 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.
At the session, Wike said the decision of Obi to contest the presidential election on the platform of the LP prevented the north from retaining power after the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
Wike described LP’s presidential candidate as the hero of the 2023 presidential election, saying LP’s presidential candidate “is my hero.” He said: “If Obi did not contest, power would have gone back to the north. The whole of South-south and South-east that PDP lost would have been won if Obi did not contest.
“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. There is no problem about it. The law will take its course.
“If Obi did not run this election, power would have remained in the north. Whether he is declared a winner now or not, history will be on his side that he fought and fought well,” Wike explained.
He said the reason he did not publicly declare support for any presidential candidate was because G-5 governors had unanimously agreed to ensure the emergence of a president from the south to succeed Buhari.
While G-5 governors assiduously worked for power to return to the south, Wike said his immediate past predecessor and former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, mobilised votes for Atiku Abubakar.
He said: “If Amaechi loves the Igbos, 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 the reason Amaechi “is canvassing support for Tonye Cole is because he wants to stall the ongoing prosecution for embezzling $50 million from the coffers of Rivers State Government.”
Wike urged Igbos in Rivers to be wary of Amaechi, saying he served as the minister of transportation for over seven years, but failed to revive eastern ports and railway lines from Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt.
He recalled that when Amaechi was the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, he allegedly opposed a plan to compensate Igbos who lost their property in the state during the civil war.
He said: “It is mischievous for Amaechi, who also served as the governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015 to wake up in 2023 to resurrect the issue of abandoned property because of his inordinate political ambition.
The governor announced the allocation of 150 plots of land to the Computer Dealers Association and 30 plots to the Computer Dealers Association to develop an industrial park in Port Harcourt.
The Chairmen of the Computer Dealers Association, Mr Anunobi Ikechi and Building Materials Traders Association, Okwudiri Onuorah assured Wike of their support for the governorship candidate of Rivers State PDP, Mr. Siminialayi Fubara on March 18.
