Defection: Wike queries Matawalle’s integrity, credibility

By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has slammed his Zamfara State’s counterpart, Muhammad Matawalle, for dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC ) saying his integrity and credibility were at stake.

Wike reasoned that only governors, who failed to develop their state, were trooping to the APC to escape prosecution vowing that he would never betray his people and his party.

He said: “People must have respect for themselves. There are things I cannot do for the sake of my children. In 2019, Matawalle said I will never leave PDP.

“I will never disappoint PDP. If I disappoint PDP, I will never have peace in my life. Today, what has happened? Is everything politics? It is not true.

“Everything cannot be politics. Your credibility, your integrity is important in life. I will never betray my people.”

He said the preoccupation of any governor, who meant well for his state, should be the delivery of dividends of democracy to the citizenry and not to join the APC.

Wike spoke during the inauguration of the reconstructed Rumuigbo, Chief Johnson Amadi, Igbodo, Finima, Rumuopareli, Bauchi, Ohia and Isaac Boro streets in Old Government Residential Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.

The governor insisted that only spineless governors and politicians would succumb to threats and blackmail of the ruling APC to join the party or risk persecution.

He expressed disappointment that President Muhammadu Buhari had yet to ask Prof. Ben Ayade of Cross River State the fate of the superhighway project he invited him to flag off at the beginning of his administration.

“A governor invited Mr President (Muhammadu Buhari) to flag off a super highway of 260 km, and up till now, Mr President has not asked the governor about the highway,” he said.

Wike explained his administration had since 2015 made conscientious effort to transform the landscape of Rivers and restore the Garden City status of Port Harcourt, contrary to “misleading lies being peddled by the likes of former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside.

Read Also: Buhari: Matawalle’s defection a welcome development

The governor in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, alleged that said Peterside, lacked the moral rectitude to criticise his administration.

He said it was unfortunate that, persons, who laid the foundation for cultism in Nigerian universities had gradually found their way into the country’s political sphere.

Wike said the cluelessness and lack of focus of the immediate past administration in the state, in which Peterside served as Commissioner for Works, led to the abandonment of projects like Abonnema Ring Road awarded by Governor Peter Odili, Rumuolumeni-Rumuepirikon road, Woji road among others.

But, he said he had since completed such projects in the interest of the state.

The governor described the former NIMASA DG as a political neophyte saying the PDP won all the elections in his Opobo Local Government Area since 2015.

Wike maintained that curfew imposed in the state following attacks on security formation would only be relaxed when he received security briefs from the State Security Council.

He said: “I will not lift the curfew until the security people tell me it is time to call off the curfew. Only criminals complain against the curfew. I prefer to protect life and property.”

Former Fovernor of Abia State and Senator representing Abia Central, Senator Theodore Orji , who performed the inauguration of the eight streets, commended Wike for the infrastructural transformation in Rivers.

He noted that Rivers people were happy with the achievements of the Wike’s administration because the state remained the only place where projects were being commissioned and inaugurated on daily basis.

Orji said it was rather mischievous for Peterside and others to peddle lies about the glaring developmental strides of the Wike’s administration.

Rivers State Commissioner of Works, Elloka Tasie-Amadi said the reconstructed eight streets had a combined length of 4.4km, an average road width of 9m (7m to 10m) and 3.7km of new drains.

He said: “This project to the uninitiated will look merely like an improvement in the character of the road and its design speeds having been reconstructed and expanded, but it goes beyond the road.

“It not only improves the character of the neighbourhood and by extension our capital, it (the reconstruction) goes further to positively impact on real estate, security and much more, offering all the benefits associated with good road and transportation access.

“Most importantly, these roads have been built to last, freeing up funds for other needs in the future. It is said that it is always cheaper to do it well the first time thereby avoiding costly repairs and repeat works.”