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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has asserted that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is strong, firm in its resolve to offer better governance and willing to take over power in 2023, in order to change the fortune of Nigeria.
The governor made the assertion at a special reception to formally receive into PDP fold the former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, at Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Governor Wike explained that as a PDP controlled State government, his administration has touched every facet of Rivers State, and offered the the people the best good governance could afford.
According to him, PDP, for what it has continued to do in terms of responding to the needs of Nigerians, has remained a household name and most trusted to savage the country.
He said: “You’re welcome (Nwuche) to where God belongs to. The property that God owns. This property called PDP is being owned by God and that is why it is the only household organisation you can find in this country.
“No matter whatever that happens, PDP is still very strong, very firm and very willing to change the fortune of this country.”
Governor Wike described Nwuche as a democrat who has a reckonable name and could add value to the PDP and not become a liability.
According to Governor Wike, PDP woos persons who can contribute to the party, work for the welfare of the members and speak for their people.
He, therefore, urged members of the party to dismiss fear that they would be displaced by Nwuche in the scheme of things in the party.
Governor Wike insisted that it is better more people come to join the party since there is room for everyone and nobody would be deprived of what is due to him or her.
He said: “Today, is another wonderful day in our political history like one of those who has made democracy to be strong, those who contributed to what democracy is supposed to be.
“Let every(one) understand that here we are not in contention with anybody. We don’t have the complexity to begin to say that people should not come back. People should not say that because Chibudom has come back what I’m supposed to get, I will not get.He has come to add to our number. The more, the merrier.”
Speaking further, Governor Wike counselled the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposition factions in Rivers State, to be more concerned about if his administration is performing or has been untruthful to Rivers people because it has failed on its promises.
Governor Wike said the last administration in which Dakuku Peterside served as Commissioner of Works, promised to construct the Trans-Kalabari road but failed.
He stated that his (Wike) administration is determined to proof the difference between mere campaign rhetoric and genuine intention to solve problem.
Wike said that is why the contract for the Trans-Kalabari road project had been awarded, with a monthly payment schedule of N1 billion in the next 14 months and it would be commissioned in June, 2022, as first phase.
Wike noted: “When he (Peterside) was Commissioner of Works, a project they said that was about N20 billion, they gave the contractor N1.5 billion as mobilisation. How can the project be completed? And definitely, the money was whacked. Ask him where did they lay the foundation of Trans-Kalabari road project?
“When he was Commissioner of Works, he awarded the job for shore protection of Queens Town, his own area, and they diverted the money. For him, the diversion of money is good governance.
“If you like, abuse me from now until tomorrow, they will not give you ticket. So many people think that it’s only when they say Wike is not doing well then their party in Abuja will see them as the only ones challenging Wike. They know that they’re not in existence here.”
Rivers State Chairman of PDP, Desmond Akawor, in presenting Nwuche to Governor Wike, also gave him party membership card and paraphernalia.
He said Nwuche’s defection was a proof of the irresistible leadership style adopted by Governor Wike to not only providing infrastructure across the state, but continued to defend its interest in the country.
Meanwhile, Nwuche explained that he made mistakes out of anger to leave the PDP.
According to him, he went on sabbatical, but has retracted his steps to where he has found people-oriented leadership.
He said Governor Wike has transformed Rivers in the past six years and turned Port Harcourt to a very modern city, with state-of-the-art infrastructure.
“No matter how much they hate you, they can’t deny one fact, you have worked so hard, you have put your heart in this state.”
He spoke of Governor Wike as an empathetic leader who uses power to uplift people, reconstructed the road in his village that was abandoned by the previous administration in the State because of him.
“In politics, you meet all sorts. Some people prosecute you, some want to bring you down, but there are only few who uplift people and he (Wike) is one of them.
“I am back home. I am a founder of the party. I began in 1999 with PDP. The PDP has become resilient. It is reinventing itself. The issues that we noticed are being addressed for the benefit of Nigerians. So, I am glad today, that I am being received by the governor.”
