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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has withdrawn his reconciliation effort towards settling issues among the aggrieved parties in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, calling some of the members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) “tax collectors” who will never tell the truth.
Wike’s reaction followed a newspaper publication which accused him of being responsible for the court order restraining Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki from participating in the PDP primary election ahead of the governorship poll.
Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama had filed a suit before a federal high court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, requesting the court bar Obaseki from partaking in the party’s primary election on the grounds that he did not purchase PDP form or undergo screening within the time-table schedule.
Ogbeide-Ihama, who is also a PDP aspirants, prayed the court that only aspirants who purchased the party’s nomination form and were screened within the stipulated time should be allowed to contest in the primary.
However, speaking through his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim on Tuesday, Wike said some members of the NWC are blackmailing him and so he decided to pull out of the reconciliation in order to save his integrity.
Nsirim told newsmen in Port Harcourt, the governor questioned why the NWC did not consult with governors in the case of Bayelsa state, adding that he would no longer participate in any reconciliation.
“I told them that in Edo State, we must handle the issue carefully and carry everybody along. They must respect human beings and not behave like tax collectors,” he said.
“They said because an order was obtained from a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, then I am responsible.
“I have had sleepless nights to resolve the issue in Edo state. The Governors of Edo, Adamawa, and Delta states, know what I have done to resolve the issues in Edo state.
“As a result of this senseless accusation, I have pulled out of Edo State settlement. My integrity matters. I have also directed my lawyer to write ThisDay Newspaper on the publication they made against me in their Tuesday, 23rd June, 2020 edition.
“I know the members of the National Working Committee of PDP who connived with ThisDay. They are tax collectors. Let them challenge me and I will come out with more facts. Nobody will rubbish me by raising false accusations against me. I will fight back.
“I am brought up not to accept injustice, and that is why I keep speaking out on national issues. Nobody in PDP can intimidate Rivers State.
“Nobody can threaten me because I said things must be done constitutionally. I will always continue to satisfy my conscience. From now on, I want to concentrate on the development of Rivers State.”
Meanwhile another order emerged yesterday Tuesday from a High Court sitting in Epkoma, restraining the PDP from preventing the Obaseki and other aspirants from contesting the primary election.
In the suit brought before the high court in Edo, one Felix Irioh asked that the governor be allowed to contest the primary on the grounds that the PDP granted him a waiver.
