Wike, Amaechi trade words

THE political crisis in Rivers State further deepened on Saturday when the supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, said the State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, should stop playing God.

Wike made this remark during the inauguration of ward and chapter executives of the Grassroots Development Initiative in Abonnema, Rivers State.

Amaechi and the minister have been in a long drawn battle over who controls the Peoples Democratic Party in the state since the political crisis began.

The minister, who is the grand patron of the GDI, a group used to mobilise Rivers people for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, called on Amaechi to leave the PDP, saying, “Amaechi, pack and go. Your rent has expired.”

“Amaechi you are not God. Amaechi, I say you are not God, and you cannot be God because you are a tenant, your house rent has expired. Therefore, pack and go.”

Explaining that those giving President Goodluck Jonathan conditions for peace to reign in the state should be ashamed of themselves, Wike added that their plans had failed.

On the opening of a parallel PDP in the state, the minister maintained that it was not possible for the New PDP to exist in the Rivers.

Describing the state chairman of the party as the leader of the PDP in the state, Wike vowed that the New PDP would not be allowed to exist in the state, adding that any move to set a parallel PDP will be frustrated.

He said, “There is only one PDP in the state. We are not accepting any condition. Our only leader is Felix Obuah. We are a PDP government and we cannot allow parallel office in Rivers State.

“Their rent has expired. Even if they want to open it at the Government House, we cannot allow them. We will make sure that we frustrate every move to open a parallel PDP in this state.”

The minister, however, charged the people of the state not to relent in their support for President Jonathan, especially as it concerned the 2015 presidential election.

“All they have done have failed. Nothing will make you to change. Continue to support our son, Mr. President. In 2015, mobilise and make sure Jonathan wins.

“When I told them they would not sleep, they thought we are playing. Are they sleeping now? They should pack and go,” the minister added.

 Reacting, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Mr. Tony Okocha, said Wike was not decide where the people should lean politically, adding that the freedom of association in the constitution gives the right to join any political party of their choice.

Okocha noted that the New PDP had come to stay despite sealing of its secretariat in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

“Wike is not in a position to decide where we should lean. We have our inalienable rights as citizens of Nigeria, which include the freedom of association. We are also aware of our limitations.

“The New PDP has come to stay in Rivers State. Our flags are official, not minding what their co-travellers; the police are doing around that axis,” he stressed.

Okocha, disagreed with the minister that Amaechi was playing God, saying, “Wike is the man who is acting the octopus. He is the one who is acting God. For him to have said Amaechi and Rivers will sleep with one eye open means he is the one playing God.