Kelvin Ebiri, the Special Assistant on Media to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has described comments recently made about his principal by a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido as appalling.
Lamido recently described a reconciliation committee set up to resolve the differences between the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Wike as mere well-wishers.
Wike lost the presidential primary election of the party to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who emerged as the presidential candidate of the party for the 2023 election. The crisis in the PDP deepened after Atiku shunned Wike and picked the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.
Lamido during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday said the party had not set up any committee because the party did not offend anyone.
“Get this straight, they are people who are well-wishers, who want to make sure there’s peace in PDP. They are not there for PDP or for anybody else; they are simply there for Atiku as a person, not as a candidate of the party.
“They are not there because of PDP. Similarly, Wike is a PDP man; he can’t say I want to reconcile, reconcile with who, who offended who? How?” the governor asked.
He said Wike is trying to claim for himself the power of an “Emperor”, adding that he has no monopoly or control over the people of Rivers state because of his position as the governor of the state.
Responding to Lamido, Ebiri said, “We have observed with disgust the disdainful remarks made by the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido about Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, during his recent interview on Channels television.
“While, we cannot deny that Alhaji Lamido has an inalienable right to his personal opinion, we wish to declare that he, however, lacks the right to malign governor Wike, whose immense contributions to the sustenance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is not in dispute.
“It is rather appalling that at a time when concerted efforts are being made by lovers of true democracy and the unity of the party, to resolve some inherent contradictions plaguing the PDP, Alhaji Lamido and his cohorts, who have since lost their relevance in the polity, are busy creating friction and schism.
“Governor Wike has never claimed to be custodian of the over 3 million votes in Rivers State. But as the leader of the PDP and good people of Rivers State, anyone who underrates the governor’s political pedigree or dares to ignore his influence in the State and beyond, will be doing so at his own peril.
“We wish to remind Alhaji Lamido that governor Wike has never left anyone in doubt about his capacity to sway the voters in Rivers State in a direction that benefits the people and the State, in the overall. When he speaks, Rivers people will listen, no doubt.
“Perhaps, Alhaji Lamido thinks Nigerians are suffering from selective amnesia to have forgotten in a hurry, the ignoble role he and his cohorts played between 2014 and 2015, that culminated in the defeat of the PDP in 2015 general election.
“We hope that he is not up in such scheme again to cause a repeat of that history. Otherwise, if Alhaji Lamido has any modicum of conscience, he won’t be making disparaging comments about governor Wike, whom many have described as the pillar of the PDP since 2015.
“We wish to state without equivocation that no well-meaning member of the PDP will describe governor Wike as ‘insignificant’ in the affairs of the PDP. With all modesty, only persons plagued by schizophrenia psychosis, will ascribe any form of relevance to Alhaji Lamido, under whose leadership the PDP has woefully lost two governorship elections in Jigawa State in quick succession.
“Under Lamido’s watch, as a governor of Jigawa State in 2015, the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, scored a total 648,045 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Malam Aminu Ringim, who scored a total 479, 447 votes. Worst still, in 2019, governor Abubakar polled 810,933, while the PDP candidate scored 288,356.
“Such records depict that Alhaji Lamido cannot and does not have such political following that will benefit the PDP. Those who want electoral victory for the PDP are not dampening the morale required for political offensive at APC, but Alhaji Lamido is cracking the wall of unity badly.
“Let it be told that in 2015, governor Wike, as an opposition candidate in Rivers State polled 1,029,102 votes to defeat the then ruling APC governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, who managed to garner a paltry 124,896 votes. And in 2019, the governor also won by landslide. This are marks of political sagacity and determination to keep PDP at a leading pedestal.
“So, as the 2023 general elections beckon, we wish to advise Alhaji Lamido to redeem his battered political image by delivering Jigawa State to the PDP, if he can.”