Adedokun Waliyu 
Rivers State All Progressives Congress Legal Adviser, Iheanyi Dike, shares his views with OLUWAFEMI MORGAN about the chances of his party in the 2023 general elections and other issues
We are good to go; we are almost there and we are ready to take over the Brick House. Rivers State is an APC state irrespective of the fact that we have a sitting governor, who is a PDP man. You can see what is happening in Rivers State. The PDP is a divided house. As a matter of fact, the governor has lost focus. So, he is busy trying to pull the PDP down. As for the APC, we are building from the grassroots every day, talking to voters. We are fully ready.
Many are of the view that your political party is facing an uphill task in trying to unseat the PDP, which has been in power in the state for over two decades, how will you respond to this?
That is not correct; it will be a one-way ride. In 2019, we weren’t on the ballot. Three days to the election, we adopted a candidate, one Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress, and what happened? Awara took over 17 local government areas. If not for the intervention of the high and mighty that stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from declaring that result, he would have won.
But not a few are of the view that Wike has performed well enough to earn the PDP victory in 2023. Do you agree with them?
It depends on what you call performance. If performance is building flyovers, to me, he has not performed. If performance is buying over all the areas in Port Harcourt, that is not performance. If performance is a situation where there is no employment to deliver to the youth, then I disagree. Wike has not created any reasonable employment anywhere. He has not been able to build one single industry. To me, that is not performance. So, I have not seen what Wike has done to earn him that opportunity for Rivers people to vote for the PDP. Moreover, the election we are talking about is beyond the PDP, it is beyond the political parties. We are looking at the calibre of people carrying this flags. We are talking about the candidate of the APC, Tonye Cole. He is a man full of capacity; he is a man who will be able to build Rivers State. He is a man who will bring in jobs and employment; he is a man full of vision. He is a man who has been in the private sector and he is willing to replicate what he has done there in the state. Rivers people know all the candidates and we are confident that they will choose our candidate. We have the best candidate.
What Wike is chasing to achieve now is a third term in disguise, which is what he is doing now. He is trying to bring one of his stooges so that he can hide under that umbrella to operate. It is the third term, that is what he is aiming for and Rivers people are rejecting it.
But many people were invited by the governor on different occasions to inaugurate some projects. They showered praises on him for serving his people well. How else will you describe performance?
It is very simple; you will agree with me that Nigerians are hungry. By the time you are being invited to come and inaugurate projects, you will be assured that you are not going back home empty-handed. Let me refresh your memory; the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Ameachi, built health centres across all the wards in Rivers State. We have 319 wards, and he built those health centres. Ameachi built primary schools across the wards. Did he attract any of those jamborees that Wike is doing to bring people to come and inaugurate projects? What are you celebrating? It is the taxpayers’ money. It is only in this part of the world that we use taxpayers’ money to provide infrastructure and then we begin to celebrate. What Governor Wike is doing is a show; he has not contributed to any development in the state.
If you follow the Independent National Electoral Commission very well, the election that we are going to have is a grassroots election. The man is already consulting unit by unit, reaching out to the people who will vote. That is the essence of the election. It is not a jamboree thing; go and talk to the electorate, go and talk to those that will give you votes. That is what our candidate is doing now. He is consulting with the grassroots; he is trying to know their problems so that by God’s grace, by the time he gets there, he will be able to attend to their needs. For now, let’s wait till October 12, he (Cole) will speak to Rivers people and Nigerians. He will come and unveil his blueprint; what he intends to do for Rivers people and why he should be soliciting their votes. So, let’s wait till October 12.
I can’t comment on it because the matter is in court. But what you should know is that Tonye Cole is distinct and different from Sahara Energy. If there should be any action, it should be targeted at Sahara Energy and not Tonye Cole.
Stakeholders in the APC recently called on the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to stop hobnobbing with Governor Wike, who is a member of the PDP. Do you think such meetings between the duo can affect the APC’s fortunes in Rivers State?
I was present at the stakeholders’ meeting; I have said it and I will continue to say that we, the people of Rivers State in the APC, demand an apology from Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. For him (Tinubu) to come to Rivers State through his handlers and the South-West governors to engage Governor Wike in a meeting is an affront. It is an affront to Rivers people, and Rivers APC members are not happy. This amounts to anti-party activity if no one will caution him; I will say that we are demanding an apology from Ahmed Tinubu, our candidate, and his cohorts to Rivers APC. This is because we have the capacity to win here and we have the capacity to defeat the PDP. So why hobnob with Wike? Rivers People have rejected Wike and that is the truth.
It is not an issue of blessing. If Wike decides to join the APC, it is a welcome development. Let him come, we will welcome him, but not to be hobnobbing with our presidential candidate. This calls for concern. If he decides to join the APC, it is a welcome development; he is just one man, and perhaps he will not add value more than a single person can; so we won’t chase him away.
Silence is golden. You want him to be talking like Wike, who lost the election and started to dance in the market? Is that the kind of person we want? Look at it now, he lost an election and he could not comport himself; he is fighting everybody; he is insulting everybody; he wants to pull the PDP down; he wants to pull Nigeria down. So, you want Ameachi to exhibit that kind of character? No! The man (Amaechi) is an honourable man; he understands what politics is all about. So, I think his silence is golden.
