Emma Okonji and Nosa Alekhuogie
Following the internal wrangling in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the elections, which has resulted in violent attacks in Rivers State, the party has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the state.
One of the spokespersons of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, said this yesterday while speaking as a guest on the Morning Show of the ARISE NEWS Channel.
He said this was necessary to curb the antics of the governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, who was threatening the conduct of free and fair election in the state and that there were members of the party, who still thought they could change the case law regarding the supremacy of the party.
“The intriguing part of it all is not going to the court but the antics of those individuals before going to the court,” he said, as he further accused Wike of not being a man of integrity and turning the sacredness of the office of the governor in Nigeria into an event of melodramatic expression of emotional exigency.
On the postponement of the PDP campaign rally in Rivers State, he reiterated that the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar would visit the state before the presidential election fixed for February 25, 2023, citing violence and the avoidance of bloodshed as the reason for the postponement of PDP rally in the state.
He expressed confidence that Atiku was going to win the election in Rivers State as he was sure they were in competent hands, alleging further that Wike had threatened everybody in the state and taken all political parties to court.
Fielding questions on why the party had not called the governor to order, he said Wike was not practicing democracy and wasn’t the first person to lose presidential primaries.
“Wike is the first person since 1999 till date who believes that if he does not win, the world will collapse. The entire party that made him who he is, what he has done or what was he worth before he entered politics and benefitted from things by being a member of the PDP. He owes the party much more,” Bwala noted.
The party’s spokesperson also alleged that the governor was funding his own interest as opposed to funding the party as he claimed, explaining, therefore, that the reason he decided to speak up now was because the election campaign in the state was finally thwarted even after the entire party tried to please him.
He said Wike was inconsequential to the victory of Atiku in the coming elections, stressing, “I believe that there will be members of his family who will vote for Atiku. PDP is going to get 75 per cent of the votes in Rivers State.”
