Amid a seeming wild cat agitation for a psychiatric evaluation of Transportation Minister and President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign manager, Chibuike Amaechi, Anglican Bishops in Rivers State have thrown their weight behind Governor Nyesom Wike.
Wike is mounting pressure on Buhari to approve the psychiatric evaluation of Amaechi for claiming that he (Wike) was negotiating with the President to allow him emerge as second term governor in exchange for the president’s victory.
While the beat is on, Anglican clerics from all the dioceses in the state have endorsed Governor Wike for a second term. The Anglican Bishop of Okrika Diocese, Rev. Tubo Abere, who made this known said that the success of Wike in the coming election has been written on the sky.
He said Wike has done well for the state, noting that his works have marketed him to the people. ‘’This one is our own. You cannot see your own and choose another one. We will be behind you come rain, come shine. The victory has been won by God. What is there for us to do is to pray and believe. Our dear governor you are working. Success is for you. No weapon fashioned against you shall prosper’’, he said.
While Venerable Alex Usifor said Wike deserves the support of the people, Venerable Bela of Ahoada Anglican Diocese added that they will re-elect the governor with their votes.
Responding, Wike urged Christians to actively participate during the elections to ensure that the right leaders are elected, claiming the way Nigeria is going, it needs to be rescued and handed over to a leader that will revive it for the benefit of the people .
‘’Nigeria is not moving well. We have to take our destiny in our hands. You know where things are going wrong and the right action to be taken’’, the governor said, adding that Nigeria does not belong to one entity . He said Nigeria belongs to all groups and no group should play second fiddle.
He said given the opportunity for a second term, he will continue to support the church and create avenues for more productive engagements, and work for a new direction at the federal level because the current administration abandoned the state for four years.
Earlier while addressing non-indigenes of the state at a campaign rally in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Wike alleged that Amaechi’s poor psychiatric condition was responsible for his inability to grasp basic political issues.
Arguing, he said, ‘’if I am their problem, why should I be negotiating with the President. It is utter rubbish. It is totally untrue. The President should help us bring a psychiatrist to review the situation of the minister. I plead with Mr President to do us this favour because our son is gone. We want to bring him back.’’
Wike expressed disappointment that Buhari sat and watched the minister threaten violence and deaths on Rivers people without taking action. ‘’I was so disappointed that Buhari was seated and the Director General of his campaign was threatening violence, singing war songs.
‘’They have signed a peace accord. What will be the meaning of the Peace Accord when Mr President sat down and listened to his DG threatened deaths and violence? I have no problems with Amaechi’s threat of violence.
‘’But, can he bring his son to lead the war? I challenge Amaechi, he has a grown up son, who should lead the violence. His son can lead the war and then we will know that Amaechi is serious.’’
Wike wants Buhari to call Amaechi to order, while urging the international community to hold the minister, the General Officer Commanding 6 Division of the Nigerian Army and the Mobile Police Commander of Unit 48 responsible should there be violence during the elections.
According to him, Amaechi’s bragging is allegedly premised on their plan to use the military to rig elections. Governor Wike then wondered why Amaechi is leading the ‘’unnecessary push for violence when they are not running for elections in Rivers’’.
Continuing, he said it is foolish for anyone to sacrifice his life for a needless political battle, and accordingly advised the alleged warring minister and his followers to wait for 2023.
Hitting harder on his kinsman, he said, ‘’Amaechi who did not run election was made a governor by the Supreme Court. It is regrettable that Amaechi is now struggling to destroy the Supreme Court.
‘’I am urging Amaechi to learn the art of politics from me and other masters. Contrary to his claim that he made me local government Chairman and Chief of Staff, I am instead, the person who made him governor when he fled to Ghana on exile.
‘’Amaechi simply wants to kill more Rivers people the way his carelessness led to the death of 17 innocent people at Adokiye Amasiemaka Stadium in Port Harcourt during the APC Presidential Campaign.
‘’Unlike the Rivers APC, the PDP is committed to peaceful polls because it is confident of victory, and I am unequivocally committed to the election of Atiku Abubakar because he has the capacity to lead the country out of the woods.’’
While the leader of the non-indigenes, Emeka Onowu, said Wike’s victory is guaranteed because of his numerous projects, that of the Igbo, Chief Dennis Oguibe, said Wike is the right person for the job in Rivers, claiming that the governor works in line with the aspirations of the people.
Head of the PDP Campaign Council in the state, Ambassador Desmond Akawor said Wike has accommodated all groups including the non-indigenes. He spoke as the leader of Edo/Delta, Henry Iyoha, said the governor will be re-elected because the people have confidence in his ability.
Leader of Hausa Community, Ibrahim Maisundu, said the governor will spend eight years at the Brick House, adding that nobody can stop his re-election. For his Yoruba counterpart, Babatunde Omotayo, Wike is God-sent and a leader amongst his peers, claiming that Wike will win by a wide margin.
