Supportrs of former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Magnus Abe, are at loggerheads over who should be appointed a minister from the state.
While Wike’s loyalist, Tony Okocha, had claimed that Wike delivered the state for President Bola Tinubu victory in the February poll, Abe’s Kadilo Kabari, said the senator was the first to declare his support for Tinubu and worked for him.
Kabari, in a media chat with journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, said it was unwise for Okocha to de-market other potential candidates because of Wike’s interest.
Kabari, who served as the Director of Election Planning and Management, Rivers State chapter of the Tinubu/ Shettima Independent Campaign Council (ICC), condemned what he called an ‘entitlement mentality’ by Okocha in justifying his call for Wike to be made a minister.
According to him, the Ikwerre people of River State have been in the corridors of power for years, while other ethnic groups have been marginalised.
He stressed he was not against anybody President Tinubu would appoint, but cautioned Okocha to desist from calling people names because of what he stands to achieve.
Kabari said he is worried over the use of falsehood, ethnocentric bias, bigotry, and greed that have characterised politics in Rivers State concerning who becomes a minister from the state.
“We condemn the entitlement mentality being canvassed in the state in justifying their call for Wike’s ministerial appointment.
“We condemn the campaign of calumny against distinguished Senator Magnus Abe and other political actors, while cautioning that pursuits should be personalised with honesty, capacity, merit, truth and fairness as yardsticks,” he said.
