From: Diana Okon-Effiong, Calabar   Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, says the All Progressive Congress (APC) has no substantial  foot hold in...
Nyesom Wike

Nyesom Wike

From: Diana Okon-Effiong, Calabar

 

Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, says the All Progressive Congress (APC) has no substantial  foot hold in Rivers State.

According to him what appears to be the only stronghold of the APC in the State  is Governor Rotimi Amaechi whose tenure will expire in 2015.

But in a swift reaction, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to the Interim State Chairman, APC Rivers State, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, said Amaechi’s exit from PDP signalled the death of that party.

However, the minister spoke in Calabar, Cross River State on Saturday shortly after 27th convocation ceremony of the University of Calabar, where he represented President Goodluck Jonathan, insisted that the APC would not win any election in the state.
He also urged the people of the state to block any attempt for Amaechi to escape after the 2015 election, adding that he must be held behind  to account for the money that came to the state during his tenure.
He said, “It is not possible that the APC has footing in Rivers State, it is not possible. The only footing you may think they have is because they have a governor now. APC cannot win Rivers State and that is the truth.

“By the time PDP wins the election in 2015 the governor will be looking for where to run to. But the people will stop that so that he will stay in the state to account for the money he has been given to run the state for the past years”.

Asked if he would run for the 2015 governorship election in the state, Wike said: “Why not wait for 2015 because there are a lot of things to do. I am not rushing because we are still trying to build the party”.

Reacting to Wike’s claim, the APC spokesperson in a statement issued on Sunday said the party was aware of plans to arrest Governor Amaechi after the 2015 election.

Eze said: “ Our attention has been brought to the boast of the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, that the PDP would crush the ruling party in Rivers State, APC and that the PDP government would arrest Governor Rotimi Amaechi immediately after the elusive victory of President Goodluck Jonathan come 2015.

“We would have ignored this ranting of a drowning man we decided otherwise so that the public may not be tempted to believe Wike’s devilish insinuation that Amaechi has committed any crime for which he deserves to be arrested as soon as he loses his immunity as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution as a sitting governor. Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth, for the alleged crimes exist only in the satanic imagination of Wike and his cohorts.

“Governor Amaechi has dealt Wike and his co-travellers in the sinking PDP a mortal political blow, as Amaechi left with the soul of the party, leaving only the carcass for Wike and his cohorts to parade as a political party.

“If anyone deserves to be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, that person is Wike, whose case file was being dusted by the EFCC before he was saved the embarrassment of arrest by Amaechi, who nominated him as a minister, only for him to turn coat after the trappings of ministerial office went into his head.

“If we may ask, how much is Wike earning as a minister to justify the billions of naira he is expending in running the affairs of a dead party (PDP) in Rivers State,” he said.

admin