He said the whole essence of joining or supporting a political party, should not be for personal or pecuniary gains, but to improve the wellbeing of the people through service.
The governor stated this at the reception organised for former Director-General of the Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation, Chidi Lloyd, who returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Elele-Alimini in Emohua Council of the state.
Wike, who was represented by his Chief of Staff (COS), Chief Emeka Woke, said he was excited that Lloyd, who he described as a man of character and principle, decided to return to the PDP.
“Some of you may not know when we all agreed to support former Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, but Chidi was a lone voice in the House of Assembly.
“Some of you may have forgotten the screening at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) then when he was nominated by Celestine Omehia and supported by one Dr. Ogboda. He stood by Rivers people. He stood for the law and defended the law passed by members of the House of Assembly,” he said.
The governor pointed out that when Lloyd defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), he had assumed it was the right thing, “until he realised the futility of joining a party that does not care about the wellbeing of people.
“But he has returned and we have to receive him because we know he is a man of character and integrity.”
Wike noted that since 2015, the PDP and APC campaigned in Elele, but the PDP had fulfilled its electioneering campaign promises to fix all internal roads and develop human capital in Elele Community.
State PDP Chairman, Desmond Akawor, assured the people that Governor Wike would resist any attempt to cede any part of the state to the Southeast region to advance the presidential ambition of any individual.
He noted that before Lloyd joined APC, he had as a PDP member, attracted several quality projects to his people, but all that stopped when he (Lloyd) went to the APC, adding that with his return to the PDP, his people would begin to enjoy dividends of democracy once again.
Responding, Lloyd explained that his decision to return to the PDP family was because of Governor Wike’s developmental strides, saying that before the 2015 and 2019 general elections, the APC knew that Governor Wike, whose capacity to deliver was never in doubt, would defeat his rivals.
Chairman of the occasion, Chief Sergeant Awuse, said Lloyd, who represented Emohua Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly between 2003 and 2015, remained an asset to the PDP.
