Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has voiced severe discontent with recent comments by his political competitor and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, about the former’s unwillingness to endorse the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Wike stated on Thursday that he would unveil his favoured candidate in January 2023. In response, Secondus reportedly stated that the Rivers people were too sophisticated for anyone to put a candidate on them.
However, during the opening of the Aluu-Omagwa Road in Ikwerre Local Government Area on Saturday, the governor countered the former PDP chairman (LGA).
“I read in the newspaper this morning where a former member of our party, one Prince Uche Secondus said that no one man can impose a presidential candidate on Rivers people. He’s not a member of our party.
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“His ward expelled him from this party; the court affirmed it. He went to the Court of Appeal – he lost. He went to the Supreme Court, the matter is coming up on October 23rd, 2023,” he said.
“I warned him he wouldn’t be national chairman or conduct the convention,” Wike boasted to the audience. Did he organise it? “Was he there at the national convention?” “No!” exclaimed the audience.
“In any case, I never said I was going to impose my candidate on Rivers people,” he added. “I said I was going to tell Rivers people whom I’m going to support, whom I’m going to campaign for. But you see, you don’t blame them.
“When you didn’t finish secondary school, you will not understand the grammar that ‘I will tell Rivers people whom I want to support’ does not mean I said, ‘Rivers people, I will impose a candidate on you.’”
Wike claimed that the only person who would defend the Rivers people had their ear, and that Secondus had no power over them.
“You (Secondus) cannot defend the interest of Rivers people is that Atiku wins so you can get an oil block. That’s all. Just like the one you forced to be a senator in Rivers South-East because he was not supposed to be a senator. It was Magnus Abe that was supposed to be senator, an educated man at that level,” he said.
“I don’t know how Secondus would have the effrontery, the temerity to talk to somebody like me who finished primary school, secondary school very well, who went to university very well, went for youth service, came back for university, went to law school, was called to bar.
“I’m going to Rumuepirikom where I come from. I’m going to mobilise them to vote where I want them to vote. I will bring 98 percent of the vote. Let them assure their own candidate that they will bring five percent; I will bring 98 in my community.
“The community will say, ‘Look at it; what don’t we have, from chairman of local government, he gave us this. As chief of staff, he gave us this. As minister, we had this. As governor, see what we’re having.”
