The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Atiku Abubakar has lashed out at his fellow party man and governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, saying he (Wike) is always under the influence of alcohol.
Atiku was replying to Wike’s comments that he was sipping a 40-year-old whisky while watching him (Atiku), the party’s national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, and other PDP members protesting to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
“As they were protesting, I just sat down and took a 40-year whisky. I called some of my friends and opened the 40-year-old whiskey as they were protesting.
“Then I put on television, see as dem dey do marching. They have become labour union; they have become students’ union ‘all we are saying…’ chai. You are saying what? What are you saying?
“That you have taken over the role of students’ union, aluta continua. That is what the party has become, aluta continua,” Wike said at an event in Emohua local government area last week.
In a statement issued yesterday by his special assistant on public communication, Mr. Phrank Shuaibu, the PDP standard bearer cautioned Wike to stay off alcohol.
He said alcohol drinking has affected the governor’s voice, demeanour and thinking faculty.
“Governor Wike has confirmed what we all know. That he is a drunkard. The protest that was led by Waziri Atiku Abubakar on Monday, March 6, 2023, was against the stealing of the mandate of the Nigerian people, which in itself was a noble cause.
“For the sake of clarity, the protest occurred around 11.30am. Governor Wike says he was drinking whisky during the protest at 11.30am on a Monday. This reveals the sort of man he is – a dipsomaniac who abandons his official duties on Monday morning to binge on whisky.
“This explains the reason for his coarse voice, which is similar to that of a motor park tout. It is obvious that Governor Wike also dances under the influence of alcohol. No wonder it is characterised by aesthetic vulgarity.
“It is a common rule that you do not drink and drive. Unfortunately, a drunkard is the one steering the wheel of governance in Rivers State. This is more disturbing because he is married to a judge. Indeed, the term, as sober as a judge, could not even rub off positively on the cantankerous governor,” he said
Shuaibu further said Wike’s disagreement with Atiku is not about zoning the party’s presidency to the south but about losing to his principal.
He also said Wike led the G-5 governors up a blind alley as three of them – Messrs Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu State, Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, and Samuel Ortom, Benue – had lost their senatorial ambition while the fate of the governor of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde, hangs in the balance.
“Wike’s grouse with Waziri Atiku Abubakar has nothing to do with zoning. He is only wailing because he lost the presidential ticket of the PDP in a fair contest. After losing, he deceived four other governors to join his futile campaign.
“Three governors of the G5 failed woefully at their senatorial elections, including Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who, as a sitting governor, came a distant third in the Abia South senatorial election. For Governor Seyi Makinde, his ambition is hanging by a thread after his misadventure cost the PDP to lose all three senatorial elections.
“Wike has not held a single meeting with his G5 members having dumped them since their defeat. He has been rejoicing over the outcome of the polls even though his men have all lost. This is the sort of man he is, and yet he claims not to be committing anti-party infractions,” he said.
Atiku applauded those Nigerians who have signed a petition on to demand that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union impose a visa ban on him Wike.
“I would love to commend the nearly 300,000 Nigerians who have signed the petition for Wike’s visa sanction. This is a step in the right direction. This is a man who in every election he has ever been involved in has been characterised by rigging and violence so much so that under his watch, the media tagged his state, ‘Rivers of Blood’”, he added.
