Threat to my life is real, says Wike

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has reiterated that the plot to assassinate him is real.

The governor said he has also given the hint that Rivers State government is not perturbed by the directive given by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Anti-robbery Squad, Mr. Akin Fakorede, to sue the state government for defamation.

Speaking with the media in Port Harcourt yesterday, Wike said when people are desperate for power they could do anything including assassination to achieve their sinister motive.

He maintained that the threat to his life remains real, as the intelligence report at his disposal was cogent and valid, saying, “It is true that my life is under threat. What I said is true. As a governor I cannot just wake up and say my life is threatened.”

The governor explained that when he uncovered the plot by the police to raid his residence in Abuja with the sinister intent to plant incriminating evidence against him, some Nigerians may have presumed he was ranting until the police appeared in court to give justify this plot, which was later dismissed by the court.

According to him, “When the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, recently raised the alarm of a ploy to link him to alleged murder case, a lot of people might assumed his claim was political, but Nigerians now know better.

“The threat to my life is real. What is accidental discharge? Am I the one that picked the policemen who work with me? They picked them.”

The governor added that he does not have personal problem with his predecessor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, now the Minister of Transportation and some other persons whose desperate quest to grab political power in Rivers at cost was worrisome.

He warned that Amaechi and others who are hell bent to wrest political power are rather laying foundation for crisis, which would not augur well with them. He assured the people of the State that he would not allow the 2019 elections to be manipulated.

“The day I finished from office, God keep me alive, you will not see me struggling about issues in the state again. Of all the brutal force, nothing still to show forth, God has helped someone to be speaker for eight years, governor for eighth years, and now Minister, must you continue to dictate who becomes what? You have done your own, must you continue to struggle, why are you happy that the state is in crisis,” he said.

Wike also disclosed he has uncovered a plot by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to freeze the State’s account on the claim that the account was being used for money laundering.

According to him, “This was part of the strategy to muscle Rivers and derive it of revenue to pay workers salary and execute projects.”

Wike said the Rivers State government will not bothered by the Inspector General of Police’s directive that the Mr. Fakorede should file a suit against the government for defamation. He maintained that the State has overwhelming evidence including that of the INEC, which indicted the SARS commander of electoral misconduct during the 2016 rerun legislative polls in the state.