Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has explained that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tonye Cole is not electable because he is facing prosecution for allegedly defrauding Rivers of $50m.
The Governor, who described Cole as divisive, urged Rivers voters to steer clear of him saying that any attempt to elect him would stall his ongoing prosecution.
Wike appealed to voters to choose Sir Siminialayi Fubara, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for his disposition to sustaining the prevailing harmony in the State.
The Governor spoke at Egbeda community while inaugurating the Akpabu-Egbeda-Omoku Link Road in Emohua Local Government Area of the state on Friday.
Wike condemned reckless instigation of needless war between the Igbo and Rivers people former Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
He said Amaechi’s utterances resurrecting the issues of abandoned property that happened during the Nigeria’s civil war over 50 years ago as one of the reasons why the electorate should be wary of the APC candidate.
Wike insisted that Cole and Amaechi were insensitive to the danger the animosity they were triggering and what it could cause in the state because of their “inordinate and dubious quest for power”.
He said:
“We have been living peacefully with our brothers and sisters; Ndi Igbo, living peacefully, doing business peacefully. I felt that I should let you know that a vote for Tonye Cole is a vote for division of Rivers State.
“A vote for Tonye Cole is a vote in order not for him to return our $50million and God will not allow us to vote for such people. We are prosecuting them. They want to run away from prosecution, they cannot.”
Wike blasted Amaechi for lying to Igbo residing in the State that if they elect Cole, he would ensure compensation for their purported abandoned property during the civil war.
He said: “When you have a child (Chibuike Amaechi) who wants to destroy a home, to open up old wounds at this time in Nigeria, in Rivers State is a terrible thing. He is trying to put us and the Igbos at loggerheads for us to fight, God will not allow us to fight.”
Wike said despite what Amaechi did, Igbo and Rivers people would continue to live together as people, who had largely intermarried among themselves.
The Governor said Amaechi wanted to foist Cole, who could not speak his indigenous language as Governor of the State.
The governor wondered the nature of double faced political life that Amaechi depicted recalling that when he contested for presidential ticket of his party, he claimed a different tribe and when he failed, instead of supporting Peter Obi or another southern candidate, he voted for a northern candidate.
Wike also mocked Dele Momodu for his inability to deliver his presidential, senate and House of Representatives candidates in the February 25th elections.
The Governor stressed that he produced three PDP senators, nine House of Representatives so far and was certain of winning the House of Assembly and governorship elections for the PDP.
He wondered why Dele Momodu and his cohorts had ceased appearing on Arise TV after the 25th February presidential and National Assembly elections because it was obvious to them that politics was not done on television.
Wike clarified that he never mentioned anybody’s name when he described some members of the PDP as buccaneers and vampires responsible for the party’s lost in recent election.