Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, says he cannot support anyone who does not have the vision and strength of mind to champion the course of the state progressively to succeed him in 2023.
The governor said he was more concerned about the steady progress the state could continue to make after his tenure.
Wike stated this during the inauguration of the official residence of the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly in the Old GRA, Port Harcourt, the state capital on Thursday.
The governor warned blackmailers and those whose stock in trade, he said, was to create confusion within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to know that such indulgence would not fetch anybody the governorship ticket of the party.
“I cannot support anybody who cannot move Rivers State forward. I will support those who mean well for this state and have the heart to continue to support the party.”
The Rivers State governor declared that no serious politician who was focused on winning any election could ignore the electoral strength of his political ward in Obio-Akpor local government area of the state.
“You need me. I am a governor that comes from the most populated electable voters. There is nobody in this state that wants to be governor that will not look for my local government. Our local government cannot be underrated.
“Don’t hate me too much. Let people know that we must all work together to move Rivers State forward.”
Wike reasserted the status of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and said anybody plotting to unseat him would be pitching a fight against the party and should be ready for the consequences.
The governor clarified that he never said all national or state lawmakers were working against him.
He urged contributors to pages of the newspaper to show good understanding of spoken expressions when reporting.
“I never said that Assembly people are plotting against me. I never said so. I said some Assembly people, I know what they’re doing.
“There’s a difference between National Assembly and some members of the National Assembly. There is difference between State Assembly and some members of State Assembly. Those of you writing in the newspaper, I never said National Assembly. Some people don’t understand that simple grammar.”
Speaking about the new official residence built for the speaker, Governor Wike noted how the official quarters was abandoned until his intervention.
According to him, the intervention was possible because of the cordial relationship that existed between the legislature and the executive.
Performing the inauguration, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara, said the administration of Governor Wike had positively impacted every arm of government, sector and local government.
In his speech, Rivers State Commissioner for Housing, Chinedu Tasie Nwobueze, said the official residence of the Speaker had been built to reflect the taste of quality associated with Governor Wike.
According to him, it is a five-bedroom duplex that had a private office space for the Speaker, a boys’ quarters, service quarters, mechanised swimming pool and standby generating set.
