The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike says he is ready to lay down his life if it will ensure victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections.
\nWike said this in the latest edition of The Interview, a monthly magazine.
\nThe governor said one of the reasons the then President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidential election was that he was surrounded by insincere people, especially Ministers.
\nWike said members of Jonathan\u2019s cabinet and ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the party\u2019s former National Chairman, Adamu Mu\u2019azu deceived the former President and told him outright lies about his chances.
\nHe continued: \u201cSome of them would say, \u2018Your Excellency, Sir, as I\u2019m speaking with you now, so and so States are down for PDP\u2019. It was all lies.\u201d
\nWike attacked the Northern leaders of the party, saying: \u201cPDP in the North ganged up against Jonathan. Let the truth be told. Nobody will die. They were not sincere to him.\u201d
\nHe, however, said Rivers State fought tooth and nail to ensure victory for the PDP in 2015, and assured that 2019 would not be any different.
\nWike said, \u201cThe whole thing boils down to sincerity and commitment and sincerity. We said if things would not happen, all of us would go down with it. That was the driving spirit for us and that is what we are going to repeat in 2019.
\n\u201cIf the Federal Government is going to kill all of us, so be it. Because we know what they have planned their strategies, and so, when it is time, we will face the APC squarely in this state. Just watch.\u201d
\nThe governor described Jonathan as a gentleman who condoned too many things.
\nWike said, for instance, when Jonathan went to campaign in the North, he was stoned in a number of States but did nothing.
\nThe governor said if he were the President, things would have been different.
\nHe added, \u201cGod gave every leader his strength and way of doing things. You see, I will not accept that. Let the heavens fall. If Nigeria was going to end on that day, let it end. I will not take what he took. That is why I respect the man a lot. I will not take that.
\n\u201cIf Nigeria will come down that day, let it come down. I mean, what is it? He was President and you were throwing stones at him? No single respect for that office? And you tell me to accept it? No, I will clamp down on you.\u201d
\nWike said the fact that those who stoned Jonathan were neither arrested nor prosecuted, showed that some northern elements, including the ones in the PDP, sabotaged Jonathan\u2019s campaign.
\nHe, however, said the PDP reconciliation committee of which he is chairman, had in its sights, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and top members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among others.
\nWike spoke on his relationship with former Governor Peter Odili and said he had no regrets maintaining good relationship with the former governor.
\nHe said: \u201cThese (the purveyors of the information) are evil people. Can Rotimi Amaechi tell the story of his life and he won\u2019t mention Peter Odili? Can Dakuku Peterside mention anything and he won\u2019t mention Peter Odili?\u201d
\nMeanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has decried the politicisation of security in the state by the Police High Command, saying, it is negatively affecting the state\u2019s security architecture.
\nSpeaking during a courtesy visit by Course Participants of the National Defence College on Study\u00a0 Tour to Rivers State at the Government House, Port Harcourt last Monday, Wike said that the state is suffering certain avoidable security infractions because of the politics introduced in security management.
\nWike commiserated with the families of the deceased in Obio\/Akpor Local Government Area, saying that the administration will continue to strengthen security, despite the acts by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to sabotage the state security architecture.
\nHe said: \u201cWe had a security incident, I expected the State Commissioner of Police to be here to brief me and for us to plan to forestall a recurrence, but he will not come. He may brief me over the telephone\u201d.
\nThe governor reiterated that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Commander, Mr Akin Fakorede was specifically positioned in the state by the Police High Command to disorganise the state security architecture.
\nHe explained that the same Rivers SARS commander, who was indicted by the INEC Official Election Report as being involved in the\u00a0 rigging of elections, has been left in the state to continue to wreak havoc on the security architecture.
\n\u201cWe wrote to the Inspector General of Police to transfer those who sabotage our security out of the state, but he chose to leave them. Instead, the security saboteurs are busy participating in kidnapping and armed robbery with the use of SARS platform.
\n\u201cEveryday people are crying on radio about their experiences with SARs, yet the Police High Command has refused to act\u201d, he said.
\nHe stated that certain official Federal Policies and decisions also negatively affect security in the Niger Delta.
\nAccording to the governor, the Niger Delta was considered safe for the drilling of oil, but not safe for the international oil companies to have their head offices.
\nHe stated that his administration has invested in youth development and empowerment in order to improve the security situation of the state.
\nIn his remarks, the Team Leader and Secretary of the National Defence College, Air Vice Marshal Shafi Kudo said that the theme of the study tour is: \u201cYouth Empowerment and National Security: Issues and Prospects.\u201d
\nHe lauded the governor for his achievements, noting that his projects have transformed the landscape of Rivers State.
\nHe said: \u201cWe are aware that you have turned the state into a construction site. Rivers State has been transformed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n
Chris Oluoh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike says he is ready to lay down his life if it will ensure victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections. Wike said this in the latest edition of The Interview, a monthly magazine. The governor said one of the reasons the then President, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=162760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=162760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=162760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=162760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}