A former Commissioner for Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment in Rivers State and spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Council of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Dr Leloonu Nwibubasa, shares with DENNIS NAKU his views on the political developments in the state and the treatment meted out to the council by the state Governor, Nyesom Wike
There are reports that after Governor Nyesom Wike made a U-turn to re-approve the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, the PDP PCC rejected the approval. Is that true?
We heard about it on Tuesday during one of the PDP governorship campaign rallies when Governor Nyesom Wike said on the podium that some people had pleaded with him to rescind his decision and based on that, he had re-approved the use of the stadium. Governor Wike wrote to the presidential campaign council in Abuja to rescind his decision on the approval for us to use the venue. That official letter is still there until he writes to the PCC that he has re-approved the use of the place. We can’t just take his word for it knowing that the governor has displayed a high level of instability over the last couple of months. So, we don’t see it as anything exciting, except we have written approval from him.
The governor said he withdrew the initial approval because of the tendencies of some persons to foment trouble. What do you make of that?
That again is surprising because the governor has re-approved an earlier revoked approval, he should be able to substantiate those weighty allegations that he levelled against the PCC in Rivers State since he said those allegations were based on intelligence reports. Have those intelligence reports been upturned? What has the governor done to address the insinuation that there was going to be violence now that he has asked us to use the place? Again, he accused us of collusion with the All Progressives Congress. How did he know that with this new approval, we won’t be colluding with the APC? These are all questions begging for answers from the governor because he needs to come back and tell the public that the reasons for which he cancelled the earlier approval he has now discovered that those reasons are no longer tenable or is he allowing us to use the stadium while those reasons subsist.
There have been rumours that following the dissatisfaction by the G-5 governors, Wike is allegedly supporting Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the APC for the presidency. Do you think that is true?
Well, for Rivers State, I can say it authoritatively that appointees of government and those elected on the platform of the PDP as chairmen of council and members of the state House of Assembly and even members of the House of Representatives and Senate have been speaking to our people at the grassroots, directing them to vote Bola Ahmed Tinubu for president. Unfortunately for them, they have met very stiff resistance and people have told them a capital no, that they are going to vote for the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. So, it is no longer news. And of course, a few days ago, Governor Wike said in one of his campaigns in Okrika that he never told Nigerians he was going to call a world press conference to inform them of who his presidential candidate is. But he informed the people and he asked the people and in a chorus answer, the people said yes we are aware of your directive. He also spoke very strongly against Atiku Abubakar for supporting the naira redesign and ending the old naira notes and urged Nigerians not to vote for him. So, it is clear that Atiku Abubakar is not his choice and he has asked the people to vote for Tinubu.
Can you confirm that he told those you mentioned that they should work for Tinubu?
We all live and work in Rivers State and the party is our party. The people they invited for the meeting were party men. They came back and reported that they were told to vote for Tinubu. The fact that Governor Wike is not courageous enough to stand and pronounce this and is giving this duty to his lieutenants also tells you that he wants them to bear the blame and not himself. That is not the quality of a good leader. A good leader should be able to stand up courageously and tell the people, this is where we are heading, whether good or bad, those that want to work with him will work with him. We are calling on him again to keep to his words. He told Nigerians that in January he was going to name his preferred candidate and that he would campaign for the candidate in the 36 states of the federation. It was all over the news platforms. Up till today, Governor Wike has not had the guts to tell the people clearly who he wants them to vote for. This again tells on his integrity.
Are you worried that the governor’s refusal to openly campaign for Atiku could make the PDP lose the elections to the APC in Rivers State?
I am in Rivers State and we have been campaigning for Atiku Abubakar. Rivers State is a traditional PDP state, and I can tell you clearly that Rivers people, including those that are working with the governor today and some people in his cabinet, will vote for Atiku Abubakar. Most of them are true party men and they will clearly show good faith in their party. So, Atiku is not going to lose the election in Rivers State. As a matter of fact, he will win overwhelmingly. The activities of the governor lately have even made Rivers people have more sympathy for Atiku because we feel he is being vilified for nothing and that the governor has been pursuing a selfish agenda. Now, it is clearer than ever to Rivers people that the governor has never defended their interest. So, I don’t see why Rivers people will listen to his directive.
Has the sealed section of Atiku’s campaign office in Port Harcourt been reopened?
Well, these are the things we are saying. We have a campaign secretariat, and you (Wike) sealed it. We applied for a stadium, and you (Wike) approved and withdrew the approval. All these tell you that Governor Wike has sworn to be an eternal enemy of democracy, and free participation in elections, and an eternal enemy of the PDP presidential candidate.
Given the friction between Atiku and Wike, will your presidential candidate be in Rivers for the campaign?
Atiku Abubakar will be in Rivers State to campaign for Rivers people because he needs to tell Rivers people what he is going to do for them. We know he will do a lot for us. But the good people of Rivers State, including those at the grassroots, want to hear him. Their morale is high to see their presidential candidate touch ground in Rivers State. So, the presidential campaign train of Atiku and Ifeanyi Okowa will be here to campaign hopefully early next week.
Why did the PDP PCC shift the date from February 11?
We have a lot of programmes on the 11th and we have a campaign in Abia State. We have looked at some logistics issues, so the national body will come up with a very favourable date for our campaign.
Is there a possibility that Atiku will meet with Wike during his visit to Rivers State?
Court stops PDP, Ayu from suspending Wike
If the governor opens his door, why not? If he does not, the candidate is coming to speak to Rivers people and not for governor Wike.
There have been pockets of political violence in the state, and parties readily accuse one another of being behind it. Who do we blame for that?
Well, the security of the state lies squarely on the shoulders of the chief security officer of the state, which is the governor. On electoral violence, I have said clearly that a witch cannot cry in the night and a child dies in the day, and you are asking who killed the child. After the primaries, especially as it has to do with supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the governor had said openly, clearly, everywhere, that he wants to see how supporters of Atiku will campaign in Rivers State. He went ahead to label all credible Rivers sons who are politicians in the PDP as enemies of the state because they are supporting Atiku.
Some people complained that the executive order he issued was targeted at the opposition. Do you feel so too?
He brought executive orders 21 and 22 which again contracted the political space, asphyxiated the political space, and took off political oxygen out of the nostril of the opposition. These people cannot campaign on the sea, neither are they going to campaign in the air. They must campaign on land. He didn’t stop there. When the Inspector-General of Police and, of course, the National Security Adviser stated clearly that such orders were obnoxious, completely against the grund norm of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and they were not enforceable, Governor Wike went and recruited thugs in our various local government areas to stop the meetings of the opposition, including that of the PDP presidential candidate. You are aware that in Omuma and Oyigbo LGAs and different places; candidates have been attacked, people that were pasting posters were attacked and billboards were destroyed. All these things were done to stop every other person from campaigning and they are traceable to him. So nobody should be talking about violence in Rivers State. The governor needs to sit up as the governor for all. That is what will stop electoral violence in Rivers State.
When you say the governor was recruiting thugs. Do you have evidence?
Yes, we have evidence. We have raised this before the Commissioner of Police. I have also had a stakeholders’ meeting in my community, where young men were attacked twice. The first meeting I had last year was directly opposite the police station in Bori, the headquarters of the Khana LGA and some thugs came into that meeting and disrupted it. The governor has employed the so-called 200,000 special advisers. These people were drawn from several political wards and units and their main duty has been to disrupt the activities of other parties and, of course, people he thinks are not on the boat with him. So, this is clear. We have raised these issues. However, the police commissioner and the police command don’t seem to be carrying out their duties to nip these in the bud.
Wike has secured a court order to prevent the PDP from suspending or expelling him. Were there plans by the party to do that or was the governor just being cautious?
Well, it is written in the scriptures that the wicked runs when no one pursueth him. I don’t know why Governor Wike is running to court to seek judicial asylum if he doesn’t see himself as wrong. As we all know, the PDP, the party chairman, or the national working committee have never made any statement against the governor despite his activities, especially his political flirtations with members of the opposition against our candidate. With the kind of presidential candidate we have, who is a true unifier, Atiku Abubakar is not carrying a hammer to look for everybody who is against him to hit their head. He has always been calling everybody to come and let us reason together. So, the governor running to court tells you that he has done a lot against the constitution of his party and he is trying to cover up. I see that as witchcraft. Witchcraft is when you destroy the foundation of your house and you expect that the roof will not fall on you.
Many people believe that the lack of support by the G-5 PDP governors could frustrate Atiku’s chances of winning the election. Do you agree they are a threat or is their influence exaggerated?
I have said this before and I will reiterate it; there is no G-5. What we have now is one G. The G-5 as mentioned frequently by Governor Wike is a mind game. He wants to keep people around him believing that he has support from the so-called G-5 or Integrity Group. You are aware that Jonah Jang (former Governor of Plateau State) was one of the leaders of the group. Today, Jonah Jang works with Atiku Abubakar. He has made it very open that Plateau will vote five over five. As of today, his other colleague governors are campaigning in their states and they are saying people should vote for Atiku Abubakar. In Abia or Enugu state, have you heard them campaigning for any other candidate apart from Atiku Abubakar? Go and find out. You will not even hear it in Benue State where Governor Samuel Ortom said “my preference would have been for the people to vote for Peter Obi if I were not a member of the PDP”. When Wike keeps saying “I have the G-5,” it is a mind game. I want to say clearly to the people that there is no G-5. What we have is a one G.
Some people believe their refusal to name their candidate less than two weeks before the election means they have lost out. What do you think?
No, they have not lost out. If you listen to the address of the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu in Benue State a few days ago, he was clear when calling his brother, the governor of Benue State, to return to his house, and that there is enough room to accommodate them. The PDP has a large room to accommodate those that have worked for the party. I want to lend my name to those who are still calling on the governor of Rivers State to come back home. He is our father and our leader, we will be glad if he will also do a U-turn and come back to the party that he has helped to build.
When you examine the influence of the G-5 and the extended Integrity Group in their respective domain, won’t the PDP or Atiku appease them so they don’t lessen his chances?
As I said, there is no Integrity Group. G-5 has collapsed, and Jonah Jang is back with us. So many other members of the earlier taunted G-5 and the Integrity Group are back in the mainstream. And so we don’t see a situation where a house that is not standing will now stand against the majority of the party and make us have issues with our chances of winning the election. Again, talking about appeasement, we have a presidential candidate who is a unifier, and I can tell you that even though Atiku talks less, he is reaching out to people and he will continue to reach out even till the eve of the election.
Is he also reaching out to Governor Wike?
That I can’t tell.