Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Monday inaugurated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign council, saying that Rivers people would vote for those that deserved their votes.
Wike said this in a statement issued to n
ewsmen by Mr Kelvin Ebiri, his Special Assistant on Media, in Port Harcourt.
He said those who disrespected the state and its electoral importance, did not deserve Rivers electorate to vote for them or their candidates in the 2023 general elections.
He stated that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, picked people from Rivers State as members of the presidential campaign council without any input from him.
He said that the state would campaign for the governorship candidate, Senatorial candidates of the party and others in the state.
Wike decried how Rivers State had been treated in the past, in spite of the bulk votes delivered to the PDP since 1999.
According to him, people can not continue to demand for Rivers votes and yet be unwilling to accommodate its interest.
He stated that PDP in Rivers State had done well for the people, with such feat attested to by President Muhammadu Buhari, which made it more difficult for any other party to have a chance of winning the election in the state.
Wike stated that Rivers State was the envy of other states because his remarkable achievements in office would be beneficial to all PDP candidates in the State during campaign.
He said that he had directed the release of N50 billion to contractors handling projects in the state, to enable them to speed up work.
Wike assured that more projects such as the Dr Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Diagnosis Treatment Centre, the 8th and 9th flyover bridges, Phase one of the Trans-Kalabari road, Saapkenwa – Bori-Kono road among others, would be inaugurated soon.
In his response, Chief Ferdinand Anabraba, the alternate chairman of the Rivers PDP campaign council, said they accepted the assignment given to them and were determined to do their best to deliver the consolidation team of the New Rivers Vision.
He noted that the transformation that Rivers State experienced under Wike since 2015 further endeared the party to the people.
Anabraba said the members of the council would work hard to deliver all 32 candidates of State House of Assembly, 13 members for House of Representatives, the 3 Senatorial candidates and the gubernatorial candidate in the state.
On his part, Mr Desmond Akawor, the State chairman of the party, described the day as the start of the process of bringing on board a new team of leaders in the state.
Akawor said he would confidently navigate the 23 local government areas of Rivers, showing the people the completion certificates of projects that Wike had delivered in those areas as a proof of what the new team would continue to do for the state.
