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2023 Presidency: I Secured My Wife’s Buy-In Before Contesting …Justifies Shunning Gov, Deputy, PDP Secretariat During Edo Visit

Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that he first consulted with his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike before declaring to contest for president in 2023.
The Rivers State governor said that if she did not approve of his ambition, he would not have made a declaration for the nation’s top job in the coming general election.
Wike made this known in an interview with BBC Pidgin English Service aired, last Friday, and monitored by The Tide in Port Harcourt.
He was responding to a question on whether there was anything that could make him step down from his presidential bid on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Rivers State governor said the only thing that can make him step down was if he was dead.
He quickly added that God was with him, and he would not die now.
“Nothing will make me step down. Nobody who loves this country will see how it is and will not look for a means to change the situation. Who will change it for you?
“And luckily, before I came out, I told my wife, and she said go ahead. If I told my wife, and she got upset about it, and said no, I will obey. But she said go ahead, and that’s what I am doing”, he said.
Speaking on why he shunned Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, during his recent special interactive meeting with delegates and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Wiike said, “I did not visit Governor Godwin Obaseki because the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not send me there.
“They dispatched me to meet with delegates (rather than the governor) to discuss how our party will win the presidential race in 2023.
“It’s nowhere written that I have to go via the governor before seeing the party delegates.
“I’m not in a relationship with Governor Godwin Obaseki, and he’s not my girlfriend, so, why am I fighting with him?”
“I have been a friend of Edo PDP Chairman, Dr. Dan Orbih, until his elevation to the position of deputy vice chairman, South-South”.
Wike did not also meet with Obaseki’s Deputy, Philip Shaibu.
He further avoided the Edo PDP Secretariat in Benin City, where the state party Chairman, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi holds the ace.
During the visit, Wike, who was greeted by a throng of fans, had met with Edo PDP delegates at the mansion of a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), the late Chief Tony Anenih.
Wike and Obaseki have been involved in a public feud, with the Rivers State governor referring to his Edo counterpart as a serial betrayer and ungrateful individual.
He expressed sincere regret to Obaseki’s old godfather and predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for disregarding his warnings about the Edo governor.
Wike said: “If you ask anyone or check Godwin Obaseki’s DNA, what you would find in that DNA is serial betrayal and ungratefulness.
“Let me take this opportunity to apologise to Adams Oshiomhole, who had been justified by informing us that we would see Governor Obaseki’s true colours, insincerity, and ungratefulness.”
The issue began when Obaseki insulted Wike, claiming that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not the party of the governor.
The Edo governor stated that political bullies and overlords will not be tolerated, recalling Wike’s success in dethroning bullies and high-handed leaders.
By: Nelson Chukwudi
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.