Senator Lee Maeba, a former lawmaker, has criticized Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State for portraying himself as superhuman and working against Atiku Abubakar, the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential nomination.
Recall that last week, the governor of Rivers State issued an order to dismiss the Maeba-led Governing Council of the Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Rumuola in Port Harcourt.
In an interview with Newsmen, Maeba claimed that Wike fired him as chairman of Elechi Amadi Polytechnic due to his friendship with Atiku, and that the governor is open about his opposition to the PDP nominee.
He said, “We have a candidate of the party who has the capacity to lead Nigeria out of crisis. So nothing can deter us from supporting Atiku to save Nigeria.
“Wike is not hiding that he is fighting Atiku. Yes, he said so. He called a meeting of Ogoni people who are with him and told them to tell me that he will see how I will campaign for Atiku in this state and he is ready to fight to the finish.
“We don’t know what he (Wike) is planning to do because when campaigns start we are qualified to campaign too. We are waiting to see how he will do it. This is a joke taken too far.”
As party leaders in the Ikwerre and Port Harcourt City LGAs, respectively, Wike deposed former governor Celestine Omehia and former deputy speaker of the house of representatives Austin Opara, according to Maeba.
He claimed that the Rivers State governor had humiliated the pair in front of their own people because they had visited Atiku Abubakar to show their support.
“All of us knew Atiku before him. Austin Opara has been in the House of Representatives since 1999. He was the deputy speaker when Atiku was Vice-President. That time Wike was struggling to be local government chairman. So, if Austin Opara has to take permission from him today to go and see Atiku, then something is wrong,” he stated.
While insisting that no single individual was in charge of Rivers State votes, the former lawmaker accused Wike of having plans to rig elections in the South-south state.
He said: “Why are you in charge of votes? You cannot be in charge of votes, because everybody has individual votes to cast. If Adegboyega Oyetola was in charge of votes in Osun, he wouldn’t have lost the election.
“So, for somebody to be boasting he is in charge of votes, people should ask him where do you want to get the votes? How many voters cards does he have?”
According to Maeba, Austin Opara, Omehia, and himself do not need the permission of Governor Wike to visit the former Vice President.
The Senator said: “Let me tell you something. When you apportion so much right to yourself, then you are superhuman. Austin Opara was the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives when Atiku Abubakar was the Vice President. They attended caucus meetings together and National Economic Council Meeting.
“So, does it mean that Austin Opara who has been friends with Atiku for over 20 years ago will now start to beg Wike to go and see Atiku?
“So, he (Wike) is the one who doesn’t have respect for citizens.
“Like me, I met Atiku first in 1992 in Jos for the SDP campaigns. We started working together in 2003 when I became Senator. That time where was he (Wike)? When Austin Opara was working with Atiku, holding meetings, Wike was struggling to come into the limelight.
“So, when you use comments like that that you are not the kind of politician that people will hold meetings against in Abuja, he goes to Abuja every day. He flies to Abuja. In fact, he virtually sleeps in Abuja. So if you don’t have respect for the rights of senior citizens of the state, you don’t have respect for their right to survive and self-sustenance, then something is wrong with your own system.”
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