The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has dismissed as “empty hot air” the boast of the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would crush APC, the ruling party in Rivers State, and that the PDP Government would arrest Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi immediately after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declares President Goodluck Jonathan re-elected during the 2015 ballot. Wike made the boast Thursday in Port Harcourt while handling out buses to the 23 local government areas and the state chapter of the party.

“We would have ignored this ranting of a drowning man but we decided otherwise so that the public may not be tempted to believe Wike’s devilish insinuation that Amaechi has committed any crime for which he deserves to be arrested as soon as he loses his immunity as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution as a sitting Governor. Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth, for the alleged crimes exist only in the satanic imagination of Wike and his cohorts,” APC Rivers said this afternoon.

The party in a statement signed by Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, SSA Media and Public Affairs to the Interim State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu, said it however understood “Wike’s frustration since, by taking the entire Rivers State with him to APC, Governor Amaechi has dealt Wike and his co-travellers in the sinking PDP a mortal political blow, as Amaechi has left with the soul of the party, leaving only the carcass for Wike and his cohorts to parade as a political party.”

Continuing, the party said: “If anyone deserves to be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), that person is Chief Wike, whose case file was being dusted by the EFCC before he was saved the embarrassment of arrest by Gov. Amaechi, who nominated him as a Minister, only for him to turn coat after the trappings of ministerial office went into his head.

“If we may ask, how much is Wike earning as a minister to justify the billions of naira he is expending in running the affairs of a dead party (PDP) in Rivers State, even buying the fairly used buses (Tokunbo) presented to the non-existing PDP Local Government Chapters? That he assembled some jobless politicians and presented buses to them does not make PDP an existing political party in Rivers State. If it were when the EFCC was functional, people like Wike would not be breathing the air of freedom, not to talk of serving as a Minister of the Federal Republic.

“We however wish to put Wike and others looting our common patrimony with impunity that jail awaits them, as an APC Government come 2015 will not only fund EFCC but will also strengthen it to perform its statutory roles well so as to end the impunity of the likes of Wike who are presently behaving in a way to give the impression that corruption is the way of life in Nigeria.

“As regards the 2015 elections, we are happy that Wike is the Chief Campaigner for the enthronement of APC both at the national level and in Rivers State and we truly commend him for doing a very good job in this regard. At the national level, Wike has ensured that President Goodluck Jonathan gets as many political enemies as possible by ensuring that some visiting Governors from the North were harassed and stoned in Rivers State and by ensuring that our educational sector is ruined by promoting the longest strike by ASUU that lasted some six months and ensuring that polytechnics and Federal Colleges of Education are perpetually shut down. What else do we need to campaign for to unseat a clueless President and undemocratic PDP come 2015?

“At the State level, the acts of impunity executed by Wike and his friend, CP Joseph Mbu before his recent redeployment from Rivers State are still very fresh in our minds. At the appropriate time we will ask the people of Rivers State if we need a character like Wike to govern our State. Wike’s shortcomings notwithstanding, we must commend him for buying over most of the jobless politicians still masquerading themselves as PDP chieftains from Rivers State and presenting some fairly used buses to them as their own dividend of democracy from the Federal Government after starving Rivers State of federal projects and ceding our oil wells to neighbouring states so as to punish Rivers – the same state which Wike now seeks to rule from 2015!

“When Wike officially emerges PDP Gubernatorial Candidate, we would instruct our members to concentrate on developing a blueprint to improve on the great feats recorded by Gov. Amaechi in his seven years of wonders in Rivers State. With Wike as candidate, we should not lose sleep, finance and time to campaign as he is a loser – not necessarily because he is a very bad candidate of which he is but because the area from which he hails lacks the moral right to run for the governorship in 2015. APC stands for justice, equity, justice and fair-play; we have therefore resolved that Nkwerre as a tribe should not seek the governorship seat next year since they would have enjoyed eight unbroken years in the Government House through Sir Celestine Omehia and Gov. Amaechi while many other tribes are yet to produce a Governor. Apart from all these, the Kalabaris and Ogonis have declared Wike a persona non grata, so who will vote for such a candidate?

“Finally, we commend Wike for once more demonstrating his disdain for men of God by referring to Apostle Suleiman as a marabout. We do not blame him because if Gov. Amaechi had heeded the warning of Apostle Suleiman not to make Wike as Minister as he would betray him, the power-drunk minister would not have the effrontery to insult this great man of God.”

•Photo shows Wike.

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