29th March, 2016
Former Rivers governor, Rotimi Amaechi has stated that the incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike is playing politics with the development and lives of Rivers people.
In a statement issued by Amaechi’s media office, he stated that: “We watched with disgust and disbelief the recent television interview of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, excerpts of which had also been used in some newspapers. It was the typical Wike, twisting, butchering and turning the truth upside down; and in most cases telling outright deceptive lies in his failed bid to denigrate, tarnish and rubbish the towering image, person and laudable, landmark achievements of his predecessor and now Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
“Most troubling, was Wike’s propensity, without any qualms whatsoever, to play politics with the safety and security of the lives of Rivers people. This is indeed most worrisome. It is no secret that Wike plays politics with development, the welfare and well-being of Rivers people. But no government should play politics with the safety and security of its citizens like Wike is sadly and shamelessly doing.
“Governor Wike claimed that the brutal political killings and murder of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other hapless citizens in the State are cult related or a result of cult clashes. What cult wars is he talking about? Since he claimed to have security reports, we challenge Wike to tell Rivers people the cult group that Franklin Obi, the APC Ward chairman in Omoku, belongs to, that led to his being gruesomely, beheaded and butchered, alongside his pregnant wife and teenage son. Or did Franklin suddenly become a cult member because he had the guts and courage to host a resoundingly successful ward meeting of APC faithfuls in the same ward as Wike’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State chairman, Felix Obuah, just a few days to the re-run elections?
He then challenged Wike to name the cult groups at war. “We challenge Wike to tell us the cult groups and the cult wars that led to the killing of the innocent youth corper, Chukwudumeibi Okonta on the re-run Election Day? Was the Youth Corper a cultist or victim of cult wars or yet another victim of politically motivated killings in Rivers State? Wike must tell Rivers people the cult wars that led to the brutal murder of hundreds of Rivers people since the so-called election that made him governor, and the cult groups that all those that have been murdered, belong to. Wike’s cult wars/cultists claim is akin to insulting and spitting on the graves and memories of all those murdered and their families.
“With pity, we watched as Wike tried to compare the political killing of the late Okonta and INEC adhoc staff on the rerun election day in Rivers State to the fire accident that occurred at the home of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano State days after the elections of 2015. How pathetic. Even for Wike, this is a new low.”