Governor Nyesom Wike says Rivers state residents already know who he wants them to vote for in the presidential election on February 25, 2023, and that those expecting him to make a public announcement on his preferred candidate will be disappointed.
Wike, who was in Port Harcourt on Wednesday for a Rivers Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign rally for the Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, also accused the state’s Commissioner of Police, CP Okon Effiong, of being unwilling to investigate perceived violations on opposition party election campaigns in the state.
Governor Wike, apparently in response to Rivers All Progressives Congress gubernatorial candidate Dakuku Peterside, who dared him to disclose his favorite presidential candidate, said he never pledged to make a public pronouncement on who to support for president.
He said, “I never told anybody I will face cameras to announce to you this is who we will vote. I said I will tell Rivers people the candidate they will support. I did not state the method of telling it. I did not say I will hold live coverage to declare it.
“And Rivers people know already. Are you not aware? So ‘mumu’ people who never win in politics are expecting me to make live declaration that we’re now going for Joseph (hypothetically).
“Far from it. But you (Rivers people) are aware. Have we not said it? I’ve told people who don’t know. In G-5 we are fighting guerilla warfare. The more you look the less you see.”
On the perceived indifference of the CP Rivers Police Command to alleged violations in opposition party campaigns in the state, Wike warned CP Okon that he would take over his job and unleash Neighborhood Watch, the state’s established community policing agency, on opposition parties.
He said of the CP, “You are the one making them (opposition parties) to break the law. If you don’t do your work, we will take over your work from you. We will release our Neighborhood Watch. You cannot support people who are breaking the law.
“You know the truth of the matter; you are scared so they won’t transfer you. You can be transferred anywhere, any day. So you are neither here nor there. Your fear of being transferred will not save you. Do your work. Nobody should intimidate you. Tell them not to push us to the wall.”