Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State says for the
All Progressives Congress (APC) to even contemplate
presenting a governorship candidate for the 2019
election in the state shows that something is
fundamentally wrong with the party.
Wike spoke in an interview at the Government House,
Port Harcourt, stressing that aside from the plot to rig,
the APC has no platform to campaign upon in the
State.
“For the APC to think of bringing somebody in this
state to challenge me, shows that something is
fundamentally wrong with the party.
“What has the Federal Government done for the APC
in Rivers State? What has Rivers APC achieved?
Mention one thing. Is it in terms of the roads, the
airport or seaports?” he queried. He regretted that the
APC did not believe in credible polls, noting that rigging
and fraud were in the DNA of the party.
“All their meetings, all their gatherings at the federal
level, whether by hook or crook, they must have
Rivers State. They want to use soldiers, SARs, DSS.
All cries by the international community don’t matter.
Just take Rivers State first,” he said.
Governor Wike said as a Minister of State for
Education, his contributions to the development of
Rivers State were scattered across the state.
He wondered why the current Minister of
Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has failed the
people of Rivers by refusing to attract a single project
to the state.
Governor Wike said: “When I was a minister and he
was in APC, I brought development to the state. For
example, I brought the Faculty of Law to the
University of Port Harcourt. I brought grant of N500
million to Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic and the Ignatius
Ajuru University of Education.
“I’m from Rivers State and must contribute to the
development to the state. As at the time I was in the
Federal Government, he was the governor under APC
and there was no development in the state. I brought
the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)
intervention to Rivers State. This is my State.”
Wike said, as governor of the State, he has
transformed Rivers, citing key projects across the
state. He said his third-year anniversary celebration
underscored the fundamentals of good governance
with leaders across political, traditional and social
divides commissioning key projects.
The governor said in October, his administration would
commence another leg of project commissioning. He
noted that President Muhammadu Buhari would be
invited to commission projects, even though he is
unlikely to honor the invitation for political reasons.
Governor Wike said contrary to the propaganda of the
APC, he is not against the federal government, adding
that he is only committed to the fight against
injustice.
“That’s the misconception; I don’t stand up against the
federal government. I stand up against injustice and
marginalization. It has nothing to do with the federal
government. If this government is not in place
tomorrow, and another government comes and
perpetrates injustice, I will stand up against them. It
has nothing to do with federal government,” Wike said.
On the alleged media propaganda by the Economic and
Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), on the
management of Rivers State finances under his
leadership, Governor Wike maintained that the law had
declared that the EFCC has no power to investigate
the state government.
He said: “I’m not interested whether EFCC backs off
or not, being a body that does not respect the rule of
law. That is what the federal government is all about,
impunity. You heard the president say national
interest supersedes the rule of law. I’m not against
the EFCC fighting corruption if at all they are fighting
corruption.
“My concern is for us to do things in accordance with
law. The law says we have a federation comprising
the federal government, the states, and the local
government areas. We go to the monthly federal
allocation when money comes to the federation and
all tiers take their share. The federal government is
now saying the money that comes to states will be
monitored.”
He noted that the EFCC could only be taken seriously,
if it operates within the rule of law, by successfully
appealing the 2007 judgment between the commission
and the state government.
“I was not here in 2007 when the Rivers State
government went to court against the EFCC; to say
the commission has no constitutional power to
interrogate the finances of the State government.
And the matter was adequately addressed and
judgment was given against EFCC. Since 2007; EFCC
has been struggling to appeal the judgment. EFCC has
not succeeded up till now. What they are doing now is
when they feel a government is not pro-Buhari, let’s
do this.
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