Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has approved the use of Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential rally on Saturday, February 11, in Port Harcourt, contrary to his earlier position.
Wike had last week withdrawn the approval granted to the party to use the stadium for its presidential rally.
The commissioner of sports, Barr Chris Green, had explained that the decision was taken because of the discovery that the PDP is in alliance with some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
But in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, Wike rescinded his decision and gave the approval for PDP to use the stadium at a rally in Ogu-Bolo Local Government, on Tuesday.
He said: “This morning after appeals from people, who talked to me, I have given them back Adokiye Amiesimaka. Go and campaign. Let it not be that because they didn’t campaign, that is why they didn’t win in Rivers State.”
The governor also explained that Siminialayi Fubara remains the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Supreme Court dismissed appeal brought before it by a former party governorship aspirant, Farah Dagogo, on Tuesday.
Wike flayed the claim by the National Chairman of the PDP, Sen Iyorchia Ayu, on Monday, that they were reaching out to the G5 governors and that one of the G5 governors visited him at his residence.
He insisted that neither he nor any of G5 governors visited Ayu’s residence.
“Nobody can blackmail us. We’ll never go and meet anybody. We are who we are. This is not the first time we have battled. This battle we will win at the end of the day,” he added.
Campaigning for Fubara, Wike said the consolidation team would continue with his development strides and consolidate on the gains made by him.
