The dramatic end to Governor Nyesom Wike’s presidential quest is prayer answered for unpaid workers, pensioners and the downtrodden in Rivers State, the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the governor lost at the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday in Abuja, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Finebone, described Wike’s loss as “a timely good riddance to the financial banditry, resource haemorrhage and complete absence of governance in Rivers State.”
“It was difficult for God not to hear the solemn heart-wrenching prayers and tears by civil servants who have not been promoted in the past seven years; pensioners owed pensions and gratuities since this governor came into office and the teeming people and residents of Port Harcourt who now share living space with garbage, stench, rodents and diseases arising therefrom,” Finebone said.
“Despite persistent calls by civil society groups and the opposition on the governor not to shirk his responsibilities as the Chief Executive Officer of the State, the governor ignored everyone and abandoned governance in the State. The height of this was his disengagement of waste management contractors in Port Harcourt for some months now which has turned the Garden City of Port Harcourt into the garbage capital of Nigeria with diseases and rodents competing with human beings for space and existence.
“Sometimes one is perplexed and wonder how the governor sleeps without his conscience troubling or pricking him that he has abandoned those that he found himself in government to care for as their governor.”
Speaking further, the APC spokesperson advised Governor Wike to have a change of heart and priorities governance over politics or resign.
Finebone wondered how the governor ever dreamt of seeking higher office of president when his understanding of development and performance remained pedestrian and brick and mortar.
“Sometimes one wonders why Governor Wike ever imagined that he could become President of Nigeria. Was he deceived by the overhead bridges he built in Port Harcourt in the name of flyovers? What is his record on other sectors such as human capital development, education, agriculture, health, investments, etc? Why has he abandoned the state-of-the-art ultramodern primary and secondary schools he inherited from his predecessor? What about the fish farms at Buguma and other places? Why did he instigate the burning and destruction of the Banana Farm at Tai? What about the gigantic and paradigm changing Songhai Farms Projects and the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency, RSSDA?
“More worrisome is the demeaning of the personae of the average Rivers man and woman who are known to conduct themselves with candour, grace and civility. Today we are perceived as election riggers, hooligans and toxic people who compromise INEC to win elections, no thanks to the impression given to Nigerians by Governor Nyesom Wike.
“There is no doubt that the task of rebuilding Rivers State and her image will be a daunting one by Gov. Wike’s successor after the bashing the governor has subjected the State, her treasury and image to in 8 years of misgovernance.
“Now that the governor’s daydream and Presidential cookie has crumbled in his face, let the governor immediately reconstitute the State Executive Council and allow governance to continue in the State even at the abysmal level we have lived with in the last seven years. He should, as a matter of urgency, put in place an improved structure to urgently and sustainably tackle the challenge of refuse management in Port Harcourt.”
