Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar on moves to reconcile aggrieved party members as full of lies.
Governor Wike, broke his silence on the events that have unfolded in the aftermath of the party’s presidential primaries which he lost, on Friday at the Port Harcourt International Airport shortly after he returned from a foreign trip,
He said: “I have decided to be quiet because PDP is a party I love so much. I have moved on to conclude my social contract with the people of Rivers. However, it is time to let Nigerians know the truth.”
Governor Wike who faulted the speech by the Atiku on the day he unveiled Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate, also debunked the PDP presidential candidate’s recent interview on Arise TV programme, The Morning Show, where he explained his rationale for not picking him as his running mate, as full of lies.
“He appeared before Arise Television, see the statements he made. So many lies were told,” Wike said.
The Rivers Governor also accused the former vice president of using some chieftains of the main opposition party to spread falsehood against his person.
Promising to give further details on Atiku and some PDP as whole, as earlier promised, last week, Wike said he would particularly respond to some of the party members the ex-VP had employed as ‘attack dogs,’ to assail him “one-by-one and line by line in due time.”
He added: “Posterity will not forgive me should I fail to set the record straight. I’ll clear the air after the commissioning of the projects lined up for inauguration by the state government. That is what is occupying my mind at the moment.”
He dismissed the moves reportedly being made by Atiku for conciliation, saying the PDP committee set up for this purpose, was had not met with him nor send a delegation to that effect.
The only member of the committee he had met since then was former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who met with him in Spain, in his personal capacity, recalling how Atiku, came to his house to beg for support but suddenly no longer knew the way to the same house now.
“I challenge anyone to identify that he or she was sent by Atiku to speak to me about the issue in the PDP and the aftermath of the party’s presidential primary. The idea of setting up a committee is only being seen in the media. But I’ve promised to remain in the PDP and help rebuild the party. I am not a slave and will not be a slave. I am freeborn of the country.”