By: Felix Ikpotor
Ahead of the 2021 Local Council Elections in Rivers State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that only council chairmen that performed excellently during their first tenure would get the nod of the party to re-contest.
State Chairman of the party, Ambassador Desmond Akawor stated this when a group known as Wike for Positive Change paid him a courtesy visit in Port Harcourt.
The party boss reiterated the position of the Governor, Nyesom Wike who had earlier told the chairmen to show him their records before seeking endorsement for re-election.
“The Governor has told all the local government chairmen, show me your project and you have second tenure, if you don’t have any project you don’t even ask for form. So on this the governor is clear and you know the governor cannot say what he cannot do”, Akawor emphasized.
He thanked members of the group for standing solidly behind Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike during the 2019 governorship election in the state.
“When you came up with this name, Wike for Positive Change, it was as if you were prophesying that good things were going to happen in the state”, Ambassador Akawor said.
According to the party chair, the state under governor Wike has witnessed unprecedented level of transformation with the building of six flyover bridges, construction of Mother and Child hospital, Real Madrid academy and other educational and healthcare infrastructure.
” Your members will have their shoulders high that you took a good decision to stand by the man when nobody gave him the opportunity”, Akawor noted. .
He urged members of the group to visit the various projects sites and see the quality of projects that the governor is embarking upon, maintaining that under Governor Wike’s administration, the entire state had been turned into a construction site.
Earlier, the Director- General of Wike for Positive Change, Professor Atuboyedia Obianeme said they were at the party Secretariat to congratulate Ambassador Desmond Akawor following his emergence as the chairman of the party in the state..
” And so when we were told that you are now the chairman of the PDP, the party that has held power on Rivers state for over 20 years, we said we must come and greet you. So on behalf of the Movement we want to say congratulations. We also want to congratulate the amiable and capable people around you that have been brought into the EXCO. For somebody like you, not only are we bringing a politician, you have been in Abuja as a minister, you have been an Ambassador and you are working at the Greater Port Harcourt, trying to transform Port Harcourt into Korea”, Atuboyedia asserted.
Professor Atuboyedia who described Desmond Akawor as a seasoned administrator, a diplomat, and a thorough breed politician, assured him of their support at all times.
