Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has proclaimed that despite the current feud in the Peoples Democratic Party, he will not decamp.
The governor stated that he was rather interested in preserving the sanity of the party and hence would remain to fight for the enthronement of unity, inclusivity, equity and peace in the PDP.
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Wike declared this at the Rivers State PDP stakeholders meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday.
According to the governor, he is a man of character, unlike those who cannot keep their word and walked out of the party at the Eagle Square in Abuja in 2014.
He said;
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“One thing I have always told people is if anybody is thinking, doing anything to think that we will leave PDP, foul.
“We will do the fight in the party. We are not like them when in 2014 they walked out of Eagle Square. They’ve forgotten. They walked out and joined APC. Is it not correct?
“Did they remain to fight inside the party? But we remained, they ran away. Now, there is a fight in the party, we will not run.
“We will fight it at this party. Those who run away from the fight are weak people. We will not. So everybody should know this is the state where we are. So that nobody tells you all kinds of stories.”
The governor insisted that the constitution of the party clearly states that elective and party offices must be zoned which should be respected.
Wike wondered why the former PDP BoT chairman will be pressurised to resign and the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, is excusing himself from keeping to doing what is right.
“You have taken presidential candidate, you have taken party chairman, you have also taken the D.G (director general) of the campaign.
“We are talking about party politics. Decisions are made by the presidential candidate, chairman of the party and the D.G of the campaign.
“They are telling you they told the chairman of the BOT to resign. So you know there is a problem. You said he should go and resign.
“You can put pressure on him to resign when his tenure hasn’t come to an end. But you cannot put pressure on the chairman to resign. You think at our level you will deceive us. You’ll tell us stories.”
Wike recalled how in 2015 the Federal Government used the military to invade Rivers State, interfered with and even annulled elections, but were resisted.
The governor said he made sure the senatorial results for Rivers East were announced that delivered Senator George Thompson Sekibo and that of Rivers West, which produced Senator Betty Apiafi.
Wike regretted that despite the risk taken to deliver them, the same people are now in Abuja plotting against him, adding that they won’t succeed because God has blessed him.
The Rivers State governor also clarified that he never promised anybody a governorship ticket of the PDP despite the pressure some leaders mounted on him or attempts made to divide the State House of Assembly.
He said made a good account of himself at the primary even though he didn’t clinch the PDP presidential ticket.
The governor also slated next week to unveil the Rivers State PDP campaign team.
He said the pattern adopted would be based on each local government peculiarity.
Wike emphasised that all PDP candidates in the State will be decided by Rivers people who are satisfied with the performance of his government.
“We will take all. We are taking all because Rivers people are happy with what we have done in this state. we have not only provided infrastructure, we have also defended the interest of Rivers State,” he said.
He explained that it took courage and firmness for him to protect the interest and assets of Rivers State without compromising it with politics.
The governor stated that there the federal government won’t be able to use the army and the police in the 2023 election, because Nigerians will vote for political parties on the basis of their performance.
Wike cautioned party members who want to work against the PDP because they were not given the ticket that they sought.
He exhorted party members to be steadfast because God is on their side, and since have not known defeat, PDP cannot be defeated in 2023 general election in Rivers State.
State Chairman of the PDP, Amb. Desmond Akawor, also said the party in the state had already passed a vote of confidence in Wike owing to the way he has piloted the affairs of the state.
Akawor further commended the governor for the consistent delivery of projects, defending the interest of the state, and promised to always follow his lead.
