Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Monday said at no time, he mentioned he was going to collapse the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, if things didn’t go his way.
Wike has been in a row with PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the National chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, over his unsuccessful bids to be the party candidate in next year’s general election and later Atiku’s running mate.
Consequently, the governor has been having open romance with leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
At the 74th birthday reception organised to honour a former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, Wike said some Rivers elders were party to his non-emergence as Atiku’s running mate and went on to dismiss alleged misinformation that he threatened to destroy the PDP.
His statement was contained in a press release issued by his Special Assistant to on Media, Mr Kelvin Ebiri, who quoted him as saying at the occasion: “On my last birthday, 12midnight, one of our elders called me that they want to see me. They came to me and said they came to wish me happy birthday.
“Then, they presented me a letter that I should run for President. All of them, including Dr. Abiye (Sekibo) signed the document.
“I said ‘okay, you people too should go and give me someone who will be governor after me.’ They all sat there, looking left and right.
“I asked them, ‘those of you who are interested to be governor should raise your hands.’ Everybody raised his hand. One person didn’t raise his hand, Senator Bari Mpigi.
“I asked why he was not interested, he replied, ‘sir, let me hold what God has given me. I don’t want to lose the two.”
Continued, “Some persons don’t know the history. They go and tell all kinds of story. But the truth is this: all of them (elders) signed the document prepared by O.C.J. Okocha that whoever I will bring, they will abide to it.
“But now, they went to Abuja, that I must not be vice president. I also read yesterday when I was in Paris, one of them saying that I told him that if they do to me what they did to Dr. Odili, that I will collapse the system.
“I am not an ungrateful person and I will never be ungrateful in my life. What is important is that I have done well as a governor. I am happy and I am leaving office a happy man.”
