The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has apologized to Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, over the recent allegation by the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, that the immediate past administration of Chibuike Amaechi spent N82 million to organise a birthday dinner in his honour in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
In a statement issued on Monday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, the chairman of the state chapter of the party, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya described Wike’s allegation as unfortunate.
He said, “On behalf of the good people of Rivers State, we hereby tender an unreserved apology to Prof. Soyinka and to assure him that Wike’s vile attempt to link him to an imaginary corruption will fail. This accusation is nothing but the ranting of a drowning man looking for whom to pull into the stinking pool but Wike has over-reached himself this time because Prof. Soyinka is globally renowned as a man of unimpeachable integrity who has never been associated with corruption in his over 80 years on earth.
“The fact remains that Chief Wike is currently in a pit full of faeces, looking for whom he will splatter the faeces and sadly he remembered our revered Prof and as rightly observed by Prof Soyinka in his reaction, Wike is ready to, “splatter sewage in all possible and improbable directions,” Rivers APC said.
It stated that Wike in his desperation to discredit Amaechi must have forgotten that his panel of Inquiry that investigated the former governor’s tenure exonerated him of any financial misdeeds.
The party affirmed further that, “If Wike is sure of his records, why doesn’t he go to court to retrieve the said sum?”
“To us as a political party, It is very sad and unfortunate that Wike and his confused Team in their wild accusation failed to appreciate the pivotal role Prof Soyinka played in securing Port Harcourt as the UNESCO World Book Capital City 2014. The feat, which put not only Rivers State but indeed Nigeria on the global map necessitated thedinner in honour of the Nobel Laureate. All said and done we are happy to note that this bare-faced lies deliberately hatched to smear the character and image of the literary scholar as well as the Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari have failed woefully as Nigerians are gradually coming to terms of what Wike stands for,” the statement noted.
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