March 12, (THEWILL) – Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has berated the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, for threatening to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The governor disclosed that he had written a letter to the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, demanding disciplinary action against Shuaibu, for his remarks against the party.
Wike said he gave reasons to Ayu why a disciplinary committee needed to be set up against the Edo deputy governor.
THEWILL recalls that Shaibu had in an interview on Channels TV on Monday, accused the PDP national leadership of causing friction in the state chapter of the party.
He said the challenges rocking the Edo PDP is why some of those who joined Governor Godwin Obaseki in dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC), are considering leaving the party again.
Shaibu, however, said despite the obvious challenges facing the party, he would remain with the PDP.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Eastern Bypass Road project in Port Harcourt on Saturday, Wike described Shaibu as an ingrate for threatening the PDP.
Wike claimed that the Edo deputy governor knelt down to beg for the PDP to give them the platform to contest the governorship election in 2021.
His Words: “This is the thing I am talking about impunity. I was watching when a deputy governor was ranting in the media, threatening the party that there is an alternative to PDP.
“This is the same deputy governor, who knelt down to beg for us to give them an umbrella. Today, he has the effrontery to threaten PDP. Such a shame.
“These are the same people when they were denied ticket under APC, they were running helter-skelter, begging everybody to give them umbrella and we gave them umbrella; we went and made sure that they won that election, today that Deputy Governor is ranting.
“A Deputy Governor will come out on national television to tell PDP there are alternatives. I have written to the National Chairman of the party, if they do not constitute a disciplinary committee against the Deputy Governor, I will invoke sections of the party and ensure that they must discipline that Deputy Governor.
“This is the same person, who lost his local government during the election. A Deputy Governor wearing khaki, look at him.
“This is the first time I will see a Deputy Governor come out on television to threaten the party; who is his father? Now that he has started the trouble, let him wait. We will make sure he will never have rest.”
Speaking on the remarks by Dave Umahi against Justice Inyang Ekwo over the High court ruling sacking him as governor of Ebonyi State, Wike said it was rather unfortunate that instead of seeking an appeal to the judgement of the court that had sacked him, Governor Umahi made a reckless statement attacking the judge.
“Look at a governor making a reckless statement, simply because a judge made a judgement according to his own opinion, which you are entitled to appeal up to Supreme Court”, the Rivers governor stated.
“You have called somebody a thief in the market and you’re saying I’m sorry. It is late. That your sorry, we, the members of the public, we don’t take it”, he said.
Governor Wike said this was the first in Nigeria’s political history that the defection of a governor to another party was being contested in court.
He opined that the decision of the PDP to challenge the defection of the governor and others elected on its platform should be seen as a clear example of what is required to strengthen democracy.
Governor Wike pointed out that it was members of the PDP who took Governor Umahi to court to demand the mandate of the party from him.
“If our party has done this earlier, when people were leaving in the National Assembly, we won’t have had the problem we are having today.
“That is one of the problems of party leadership. People cannot come out and take the bull by the horns. So, Governor Umahi, be rest assured that PDP will continue this matter down to Supreme Court. We will continue with the matter”, he said.
The Rivers governor said it is no longer acceptable that someone would win an election and defect with the victory to another party for fear of escaping visitation of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
His words: “You carry the votes of another party and join another party. Can you transfer votes? You work hard for somebody to win an election and tomorrow the person says, ‘I have defected’.
“If you have defected, leave the seat, if you know it’s easy. And this will checkmate most of these political harlots, who will never sit in one place.”
Governor Wike also berated the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), for abdicating their agreement of contributing 50 percent of the cost of the construction of the Eastern Bypass Road that leads to its corporate headquarters office in Port Harcourt.
Inaugurating the road project, former Governor of Kogi State, Idris Ibrahim, noted with delight the untiring delivery of projects by Governor Wike virtually in all sectors in order to provide quality living to Rivers people.
According to him, such a measure of service in public office is evidence of transparency and accountability because the people can see how public resources are deployed for the good of all residents.
He affirmed that the entire PDP leadership identifies and is proud of the quality of service provided by Governor Wike, who has become a worthy example of what political leadership should be in Nigeria.
Providing the project description, Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi, said that the Eastern Bypass Road that was 7.3 metres wide of single carriage without drains, has been expanded into 18.5 metres wide to become a dual carriage with drains.
He explained that the 3.348 kilometres long road now has 1.2 metres wide drain on both sides that is 6.7 kilometres long, has two carriageways each measuring 7.3 metres wide with 1.5 metres median, which is fitted to serve the volume of vehicular traffic that ply the road daily.
