For the first time since 1999, the national leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) will not hold its presidential campaign in Rivers State ahead of the forthcoming presidential election.
The Rivers State chapter of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council confirmed yesterday that its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would no longer hold the scheduled rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which has the highest voter population in the Southsouth and the Southeast.
The Chairman of Rivers PDP-PCC, Senator Lee Maeba, blamed the development on the crisis between the council and the Rivers State chapter of the PDP led by Governor Nyesom Wike.
Maeba alleged that the volatile atmosphere created by the governor’s foot soldiers, who he said had been made to view Atiku as the enemy of the state, led to the cancellation.
He reeled out a series of attacks against Atiku’s campaigners insisting that events leading to the proposed campaign had indications it could end up in bloodshed.
He berated security agencies, saying they had not been able to restore confidence in the populace and Atiku campaigners.
Maeba called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in Rivers and compel security agencies to discharge their responsibilities without partiality.
Maeba said: “Governor Wike has branded the supporters of Atiku as enemies of the state and vowed to crush them.
“He approved the use of Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for the presidential rally but upon the campaign council visit to the stadium to ascertain the status of the facility, he berated their visit and put a rule that they could only visit the stadium within 48 hours before the fixed date of the rally.”
In a swift response, however, Governor Wike said Atiku cancelled the PDP presidential rally because he lacks the numbers to fill the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium approved for the event. He described the claim by the PDP-PCC that the campaign was put off because of fear of bloodshed as false.
He said despite granting the approval for the venue, campaigners for the PDP presidential candidate created some scenarios and later ran away because of their lack of capacity.
The governor challenged Dr. Sekibo, the D-G of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation in Rivers to disclose the killer of Chief Aminasoari Kala (AK) Dikibo, former PDP national vice chairman (South-south).
Wike who spoke at Nyemoni Secondary School field in Abonnema town, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area said the PDP-PCC in Abuja had applied to him, seeking approval of a venue to use for their rally, which was approved. He said having realised that they lack the capacity to mobilise the crowd to fill the stadium, the PCC went to clear another piece of land in Trans-Amadi Industrial Layout owned by the state government, which was not granted.
He said instead of returning to prepare the stadium that was approved, the PCC started making spurious allegations of threat to life as the reason why they were putting off their rally in Rivers State.
He said: “I gave them the stadium; they know they have no capacity to fill the stadium, they are looking for excuses. They went and forced themselves to use government land at Trans Amadi. I said no, that was not where I gave you. Where I gave you was Adokiye Amiesimaka, go and fill that place.
“They now said no, we won’t go there again. We don’t want people to die. Who is killing who? Is anybody killing anybody? I said don’t pay money, I will buy the diesel for you. I will do everything for you. Mobilise, go and fill that stadium. They ran away.”
Wike said that Rivers people knew Sekibo and accused him of sponsoring a cult group in the state.
He said: “All of us know who Abiye Sekibo is. Don’t we? I use this medium today to challenge Dr Abiye Sekibo. I want to ask you wherever you are, can you tell us who killed A.K Dikibo, the former national vice chairman south-south of the Peoples Democratic Party.”