Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State at the flag-off of the 11th flyover project in the state, performed by former Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State at the Rumuola- Ikwerre Road-Rumuokwuta Roundabout in Obio Akpor Local Government Area, dared PDP leaders with the voting population of the state, insisting that they must come to him in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for negotiation and reconciliation towards the 2023 general elections. Wike boasted that Obio Akpor Local Government Area, alone, has a voting population of over 600,000, while Rivers State has over 3.4 million voters. These, Wike said, cannot be taken for granted by anyone.
Governor Wike berated certain leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who he said are following the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, from one state to the other; challenging them to show what they are bringing into the party to help win the 20923 elections.
Wike stated that in Rivers State, they are harvesting members of other parties, saying that ‘more politicians in Rivers are renouncing membership of their political parties in droves and joining the PDP.’
Wike had declared: “It is not to say I am supporting our candidate. How many people have you brought to help your candidate? We are here every day bringing people to join our party and you are there following your candidate from Abuja to Adamawa. Is it there you will win the votes? Come back home.
“We have collapsed every other party. “Everyday people from All Progressives Congress (APC) are joining our party. We are here doing that and some people are in Abuja; ask them how many people have they brought to the party.”
Wike insisted that Rivers State is too politically strategic to be ignored by any serious-minded politician who wants to win an election.
The governor had declared: “This Local Government alone, Obio Akpor, where I come from, we registered not less than 600 thousand voters. This local government beats two States in their electoral strength.
“So, we are not a state that you can take for granted, not to talk about the Local Government where I come from.
“I believe that they must know us here because we have what it takes to deliver. “They must come and know us. I am not going to find anybody. You must come here. You cannot take 600 and something thousand votes away from my local government. You cannot take 3.2 million votes from my State just like that.
“If we were Father Christmas before, we will not be Father Christmas again? You must tell me what is there for me if I should vote.
“So, nobody should bother himself. At the appropriate time we will talk to our people and our people will understand.
“If you say we do not exist, we will tell you that you do not exist. I am not a son to anybody. I am a son of Rivers State. I am working to attract what will benefit Rivers State.”
Governor Wike challenged other political leaders in the state to tell the people what they brought from Abuja, declaring that it is time for “Operation Show Your Report card.”