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Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has described the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as the hero of the just-concluded election.
He said his active participation stopped the North from retaining power after President Muhammadu Buhari.
Wike spoke during an interactive meeting with Technical Dealers Association of Nigeria (TDAN), Computer Dealers Association (TDA), Garrison Phone Dealers Association (GPDA) and Building Materials Traders Association (BMTA) in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
The Governor explained that contrary to insinuation that he did not support Peter Obi, most people failed to realise that LP candidate was his hero of the election.
He said: “Obi is my hero. If Obi did not contest, power would have gone back to the North. The whole of South south and Southeast that PDP lost, if Obi did not contest PDP would have won.
“The hero of this election is Obi whether you like it or not. I am not here to please you, Obi is the hero. He may not have been pronounced as the winner, no problem, the law will take its course.
“If Obi did not run this election, power would have remained in the North. Whether he is declared a winner now or not, history will be on his side that he fought and fought well.”
Wike said the reason he did not publicly declare support for any presidential candidate was because the PDP G-5 Governors had unanimously agreed to ensure the emergence of a president from the South to succeed President Buhari.
The Governor said while members of the G-5 assiduously worked for power to return to the South, the likes of former Rivers State Governor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, who is soliciting for Igbo to support APC candidate, Tonye Cole, mobilised votes for Atiku Abubakar.
He said: “If Amaechi loves the Igbos, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want power to return to the South because he lost APC ticket.”
The Governor said the reason why Amaechi was deliberately canvassing support for Tonye Cole was because he wanted to stall their ongoing prosecution for allegedly embezzling $50M from the Rivers State government coffers.
Wike urged Igbo in Rivers State to be wary of Amaechi , who served as Minister of Transportation for over seven years, but failed to revive eastern ports and railway lines from Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt.
The Governor recalled that when Amaechi was Rivers Speaker, he vehemently opposed plans to compensate Igbo, who lost their property in the state during the civil war.
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