Chief Nyesom Wike
Prior to Dame Patience Jonathan’s visit to Rivers State on Friday, the camp of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike,had pulled together strategies aimed at drawing the attention of the First Lady to his 2015 governorship ambition.
It was gathered that the Minister organised a meeting with some of his confidants including: Emeka Woke, Chika Boms, Mr. Iwayekwokwo, Hon. O. K. Chinda and Mr. BomaIyaye when he got wind of Mrs. Jonathan’s trip weeks ago,
It was at the parley that the decision to print his posters and paste conspicuously in Port Harcourt, was taken.
The posters were printed in Abuja and delivered to Port Harcourt the week before the visit. Much of the bundles, it was learnt, were kept in one of Wike’s property at Woji Road in GRA. The house is to be used as his Campaign Office in due course.
But the scheme which DailyPost gathered was meant to test the waters, sought to achieve two things. One was to project Wike’s ambition to the First Lady and her entourage and Secondly, it would help the camp re-strategize, should Mrs. Jonathan raise an eyebrow.
Presently, the President’s wife is reportedly favourably disposed towards Okirika-born Senator of the Federal Republic, George Thompson Sekibo, as replacement for Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2015.
However, fearing the strategy may have hit a brick wall, Wike’s camp quickly issued a press statement wherein they called on the public to disregard any governorship poster of Wike, stating that such posters did not emanate from him.
Wike’s denial signed by his Special Assistant (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, read: “We want to categorically declare that this is an orchestrated evil plot by political mercenaries aimed at presenting the Minister of State on Education as an over-ambitious politician.
“The fundamental aim of this plot is to create the impression that the Minister is flouting the directive on the ban of 2015 political campaign by the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC.
The statement called on opponents to desist from dragging the name of the Minister into 2015 politics.
But many observers well-informed about the River politics, took the rebuttal with a pinch of salt.
It would be recalled that on the 15th April, 2013 a court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, ejected Chief G. U. Ake’s led executive of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), a group loyal to the governor and replaced with Chief Felix Obuah led executive committee, which enjoys tacit support of the Minister.
Wike, a former Chief of Staff to Ameachi, has been at loggerheads with his former boss over issues bordering on the next general elections.
The governor insists that he will not support any gubernatorial aspirant from his Local Government Area, citing the need to give other zones a chance to govern the state.
Both Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike are Ikwerre indigenes.
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