Dakuku Peterside puts Wike's presidential chase to N30bn spend

Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State is said to have spent not less than N30bn to prosecute his presidential ambition that crashed in Abuja Saturday night, May 28, 2022.

A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside, who was defeated in 2015 by Wike to clinch the guber stool in the state, said the money belonged to Rivers State.

Peterside, who is the immediate past Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), accused Wike of leading the worst administration so far in Rivers State since 1999.

Giving insight into the alleged N30Bn spending, Peterside said the governor gave away about N10bn in charity to attract attention and support in the recent past.

Wike had given Gov Aminu Tambuwal’s Sokoto State alone N1bn (N500m twice) and over N10bn to build Nigerian Law School both in Bayelsa State and in Port Harcourt (Rivers State). Wike gives a private university in Port Harcourt N500m every year and sponsors 100 medical students there per year.

The Rivers governor has also given Bayelsa State N500m and N200m twice to Benue State.

Peterside accused the governor of pumping about N20bn pursuing his ill-fated presidential bid. Despite all these, according the political opponent, Wike still proved to be a local champion.

He said: “That Wike could dip his hands that deep into Rivers’ treasury to pursue his vaunting ambition is a confirmation of my earlier assertion that Wike’s governorship represents our all time low moments since the state was created on May 27, 1967.”

Continuing, Peterside, a former member of the National Assembly, wondered how, in order to pursue personal ambition, Wike turned deaf ears to the daily cries of pensioners and other workers who were being owed their entitlements in the state.

“I wonder how Wike sleeps at night with Rivers’ pensioners going to bed hungry, and sizeable number not waking up again out of frustration. For his personal ego and ambition, he preferred to lavish billions of naira on delegates than attend to those senior citizens.

“The opportunity cost of Wike’s circus presidential pursuit is the abandonment of education, healthcare, and human capacity development in the state, the turnaround expert argued. “Rivers state is so blessed yet our people are living in untold hardship and experiencing underdevelopment because of Wike’s visionless administration of state resources”, said Peterside.

Peterside congratulated Atiku Abubakar on winning the presidential ticket of the opposition PDP, saying the outcome was proof that Wike lacked the requisite experience to compete in national politics.

The former NIMASA DG advised Wike to submit himself to Atiku to be tutored on how hi-wire politics is played.