A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, Senator Lee Maeba has reacted to the boast by Governor Nyesom Wike that he is incharge of votes in the state and would use it against anybody he wishes in the forthcoming general elections.
Wike who stated this on Monday during the inauguration of the Orochiri/Worukwo flyover Port Harcourt also boasted no gang up against him by Abuja politicians can succeed.
Wike’s comment was in reaction to a meeting by Maeba and other top PDP chiecftains from the state with the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar in Abuja.
However, in his reaction, the former lawmaker who represented Rivers South East at the National Assembly said Wike’s comments shows he is planning to rig the elections as no body is ib charge of votes in the state.
He said: “Wike is not hiding that he is fighting Atiku. Yes, he said so. He called a meeting of Ogoni people who are with him and told them to tell me that he will see how I will campaign for Atiku in this state and he is ready to fight to the finish.
“We don’t know what he is planning to do because when campaigns start we are qualified to campaign too. We are waiting to see how he will do it. This is a joke taken too far.
“Wike called some of us and humiliated us because we went to pay a solidarity visit to Atiku which we are supposed to do.
“All of us knew Atiku before him. Austin Opara has been in the House of Representatives since 1999. He was the deputy speaker when Atiku was Vice-President. That time Wike was struggling to be local government chairman. So, if Austin Opara has to take permission from him today to go and see Atiku, then something is wrong.
“Wike is boasting that he is in charge of votes. There is nobody that is in charge of any vote. Vote is individual business now. For somebody to be boasting that he is in charge of votes, means he has a rigging plan.
“Why are you in charge of votes? You cannot be in charge of votes, because everybody has individual votes to cast. If Adegboyega Oyetola was in charge of votes in Osun, he wouldn’t have lost election.
“So, for somebody to be boasting he is in charge of votes, people should ask him where do you want to get the votes? How many voters card does he have?
“Let me tell you something. When you apportion so much right to yourself, then you are superhuman. Austin Opara was the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives when Atiku Abubakar was the Vice President. They attended caucus meeting together and National Economic Council Meeting.
“So, does it mean that Austin Opara who has been friends with Atiku for over 20 years ago will now start to beg Wike to go and see Atiku?
“So, Wike is the one who doesn’t have respect for citizens.
“Like me, I met Atiku first in 1992 in Jos for the SDP campaigns. We started working together in 2003 when I became Senator. That time where was Wike? When Austin Opara was working with Atiku, holding meetings, Wike was struggling to come into limelight.
“So, when you use comments like that that you are not the kind of politician that people will hold meetings against in Abuja, he goes to Abuja every day. He flies to Abuja. In fact he virtually sleeps in Abuja. So if you don’t have respect for the rights of senior citizens of the state, you don’t have respect for their right to survive and self-sustenance, then something is wrong with your own system.
“If you continue to call yourself, “I am a strong Governor”, we need strong institutions not strong men. The best way to democracy is strong institutions not strong men.
“A strong man is synonymous with the Idi Amin’s of those days. There are no strong men anymore. What we need are strong institutions to strengthen our institutions.”
