MR Nyesom Wike, a former local government chairman, erstwhile chief of staff to Governor Chibuike Amaechi and until recently, minister of state for education is a leading aspirant for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In this interview, he speaks on allegations by 16 other governorship aspirants of his party that he was behind their initial disqualification by the South South zonal screening committee of the party and other topical issues. Excerpts
By Jimitota Onoyume

What is your reaction to the claim by your 16 rivals that they were unjustly disqualified from the contest?

Let me say this straight away, I have said it before that the problem we have in this country is that we have not imbibed the spirit of real democracy, this is not a winner takes it all, it is not a do or die affair. It is about internal democracy. Now if they say the panel disqualified them to pave way for me to come in, you would recall that they talked about the ward congresses that they should cancel the congress, what that means is that they don’t have delegates. If they don’t have delegates, why would anybody disqualify them to pave way for me?
Nyesom Wike
Nyesom Wike
We have toured 16 local governments out of 23. By the grace of God by the time we get to the 5th of December, we would have toured the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. So we have made efforts to tour all the nooks and crannies of the state of all the Local Government Areas and you are telling me they should not allow me to run. That is not fair. So for me, I don’t think it is proper. We are getting the support and the endorsement of our people. Look at the whole Riverine area of the state, we are getting overwhelming support.

Are you not worried about the mounting opposition against you from both the PDP and APC?

If you know the geographical spread of this state then you will know it will not affect us. Let me tell you something, the Ogonis have four Local Government Area’s such as Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme. Now I am Ikwerre man, we have four local governments. When you say the Ijaws, have overwhelming majority, it is not correct. The Kalabari’s have three Local Government Areas, Opobo is one local government, if you want to play ethnic sentiments, all the Riverine local government of the state, the total number of their voting strength, put them together, if you want to talk about sentiments, calculate all their votes and see whether they are bigger than Obio Akpor Local Government Area.
Mind you if you are talking about local government area from Kalabari, Ogu, Bolo and Okirika is also there, Andoni is the local government area where the Deputy National Chairman of PDP comes from, Prince Uche Secondus. In the Riverine area such as Andoni where Secondus comes from PDP has overwhelming support. Obio Akpor where I come from has about 400,000 votes. Assuming my people hate me, wont I have their votes? And mind you an Opobo man cannot give a Kalabari man deputy governor; you can’t give an Ogoni man deputy governor. The APC have excluded Ogoni and Kalabari, but we in PDP, the chances are there that a Kalabari man may become deputy governor. So it is the best opportunity the PDP has.
I am happy that it is my friend Dakuku Peterside that the APC gave its ticket. So the coast is clearer. So let’s see who will win.

Some of those opposed to you have accused you of violating INEC guideline on electioneering campaign. They said you have commenced campaign?
What is their business if I have commenced electioneering campaign, are they INEC? Why are they crying more than the bereaved? What is wrong with somebody going to woo delegates to vote for him? You want to do INEC job now?

The governor has consistently accused you of diverting N3 billion meant for the construction of the Adokiye Amasiamaka Stadium Road. What is your take on this?
I have responded to this allegation before; let me also respond to it again. You gave money to somebody to go and do road and the person pocketed the money and you did not arrest the person for prosecution. And he has consistently been saying that, does that show good governance?
The roads he said he gave to me, the commissioner for works then is the same man he is bringing up now as the APC governorship flag bearer in the state. Let’s watch and see.
I challenge Amaechi to come forth with the documents that proves that he gave contract to me.
He said he gave me contract for the stadium and there is no document to prove that, and you call yourself a governor. If you say you gave me a job, how did you give me the money? You gave somebody money to do a job the person did not do the job after seven years you come back to complain that such a person did not do the job.
In fact Amaechi would have resigned and put himself in jail for not jailing somebody he claimed pocketed money meant for a contract.
So you are saying that the governor never gave you any job?
He did not give any job to me.

Your critics say you do not have a blueprint for the governorship and that your aspiration is an accident arising from the crisis in the party?
If I may ask what is called a blue print. What is the definition of a blue print? What was Amaechi’s plan before he became governor and what has he accomplished based on his plans?
They said I don’t have blueprint but the blue print they have is a monorail project that does not have any socio economic bearing on the people. That he built a stadium where people are not living , is that the blue print you are talking? All the roads in the state have collapsed. Is that the blueprint?
Source: .com.ng

Oro mekaa

Gagan. let the claims & counter claims begin.

I am loving this man's lifestyle. You need to see his grassroot campaigns n visits. Now that is called Co ordinated Campaign Strategy - CCS!
The more they fight him, the more popular he becomes and the nearer to the seat he goes!
Ride on cuz am copying your style for my 2020 Vision....

All I'm interested in is how APC intends to bring the deputy governor.
Let's assume that Chidi Lloyd wins and is made speaker cos that's what they have promised him for almost killing his colleague and brother and yet APC claim to be good, then the Ogonis and Kalabaris have lost out just like what Wike was trying to say.
Dakuku is in thesame senatorial zone as the Ogonis and therefore cancels the chance of them producing deputy since they are for zoning. He is also riverine which also cancels a kalabari man being deputy since they are riverine. So it means the kalabaris and ogonis have lost out of this race. They will only be compensated with SSG and yet someone tells me Dakuku is a masterstroke by Amaechi.
I pity the hypocritical and naïve ogonis. Just feew weeks ago they were crying "ogoni project" and all of a sudden they have stopped. They will always play second fiddle in the state.

Wike is a typical grass roots politician who enjoys an overwhelming support of rivers people.

It will take massive rigging by Amaechi and the APC for Wike not to win. And I hope Wike and the PDP are doing enough to guard against such riggings.