27th March, 2023
Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, said Iyorchia Ayu, the Nationa Chairman of the PDP, worked for the victory of APC and Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
Umahi stated this in Rivers on Monday during the inauguration of the remodeled Community Secondary School in Okoro-nu-Odo, in the Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the State.
Umahi, who was the special guest of Governor Nyesom Wike, said Ayu helped Tinubu and APC to win the presidential election by refusing to resign as Chairman of PDP.
The Ebonyi State governor noted that it would have been difficult for APC to win if Ayu had yielded to the demands of G-5 governors led by Wike.
Umahi said: “I want to also thank very highly the suspended Chairman of PDP. You know, he did very well because if he had accepted to resign, it would have been very difficult for the APC. So, he is our man and I commend him very well. And I’m begging Wike they should lift the suspension so that he can suspend many more of your leaders. We love what he has done.
“And so we commend him and I think that Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) must know that he worked for him, and must also integrate him in the next administration. And, so all these set of people, Asiwaju/Shettima must know that God turned their hands, to work for him, to actualize the will of God and actualize unity, equity and fairness. And we are very grateful to God for that.”
The Ebonyi State governor also praised governor Wike, whose insistence that a southern Nigeria must succeed President Muhammadu Buhari paved way for the electoral victory of the APC in the south of the country.
“God, directly and indirectly, made Governor Wike very much available. And so, there is no way APC can conclude about the success of the election without mentioning Governor Wike. And I will be asking Asiwaju/Shettima to please bring Governor Wike to the core administration of the federal government. He has a lot to offer. He has a lot to offer for the unity of the country.”
Umahi also corrected the impression in some quarters that Governor Wike worked against the victory of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi in Rivers State.
He explained that in 2019, it was governor Wike who tirelessly mobilized political leaders in South East to support the vice presidential ambition of Peter Obi after supporting him to win that slot.
Governor Wike, on his part, declared that the fight against Ayu – who has been suspended by his political unit in Benue State – has just started.
Governor Wike also dismissed the claim by the former governor of the State, Chibuike Amaechi that he constructed five flyovers during his tenure and yet cannot list them for identification.
The governor restated that his administration, within four years, constructed 12 flyovers, handled by reputable construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, and went ahead to list the flyovers to clear any public doubt.
Governor Wike bemoaned the “N50B squandered” by the Amaechi administration on less than 2 kilometre monorail project that was never realised.
He wondered why Rivers residents still listen to such politicians when they come around to woe them to allow them fill spaces of political leadership when they failed on previous promises of providing democratic dividend.
Governor Wike thanked the people for voting massively to elect Sir Siminalayi Fubara, who is now Rivers State governor-elect.
Commenting on the project, governor Wike recalled the deplorable state of the school and said Rivers school children who school there will now have a conducive learning place to advance their education.