The rift between Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has taken a new twist as the Rivers governor fired back at his Edo counterpart.
Addressing a crowd at an event on Monday in Rivers State, Governor Wike accused Governor Obaseki of betrayal and ingratitude.
He alleged that the Edo governor had refused to be grateful to the party and the people who supported him to be re-elected when he left the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Wike, however, apologised to a former national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, whom he said had initially warned them about accepting Governor Obaseki into the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“If you check the DNA of Obaseki, what you will see in that DNA is betrayal, serial betrayal, and ungratefulness,” he said while addressing a crowd at the commissioning of a secondary school in Omuanwa community, Rivers State.
“Let me stand today to apologise to Adams Oshiomhole who has been vindicated by telling us that we will see the true colour, the insincerity, the ungratefulness of Governor Obaseki.
“We have voted for PDP since 1999 till now; ask Governor Obaseki if he has done anything for PDP (or) voted for PDP. The only election he voted was his own election – where we gave him an umbrella.”
Governor Obaseki had slammed Governor Wike over his reaction to comments by Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, that PDP members who defected from the APC in Edo were not happy and did not feel accepted into the new party.
He had also said Nigeria needed strong democratic institutions and not strong men, stressing the need for the PDP to position itself to reclaim power at the centre in 2023.
Governor Wike, in his reaction, described the comments by his Edo counterpart as a rant, saying governance was about feeling and touching, and not a memorandum of understanding.
He went on to highlight his contribution to the efforts that led to Governor Obaseki’s re-election, having served as the Director-General (DG) of his campaign organisation in 2020.
“Let me clearly say without any apology to anybody that one of the problems in this country is leadership – people who cannot stand firm and say: this is white; this is black at all times,” the Rivers governor said.
“I am not in the class of Obaseki, never. We are not the same, we can’t be the same. I was the DG of his campaign, I went there (to Edo) for three days. I stayed there without having my bath. I have never seen somebody like that in my life – a serial betrayer.
“Let me tell you Obaseki, I know your cohorts and I will smoke all of you out. This is not the Benin artifact that you were challenging the Oba (of Benin), this is politics. Obaseki, I have more stakes in PDP than you. I have fought for this party, mention one thing that you have done for the PDP.”
