The state's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council Director-General, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, has been tasked by Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike to identify the killer of former PDP Vice Chairman, South-South Chief Aminasoari Kala (AK) Dikibo.
Sekibo was challenged by Governor Wike to provide evidence for his untrue assertion that the PDP presidential campaign council was not in Rivers State because members' lives were in danger.
When speaking at the PDP campaign event for the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area on Monday at the Nyemoni Secondary School field in Abonnema town, Governor Wike said that Sekibo is well-known in Rivers.
“All of us know who Abiye Sekibo is. Don’t we? I use this medium today to challenge Dr Abiye Sekibo. I want to ask you wherever you are, can you tell us who killed A.K Dikibo, the former national vice chairman south-south of the Peoples Democratic Party?.”
On February 14, 2004, A.K. Dikibo, the PDP National Vice Chairman for the south-south, was killed on his way to a meeting in Asaba, Delta State. His killers have not yet been found.
Governor Wike also talked about the death of Gospel Biobele, who was found dead a day after he wrote and sent a petition against Abiye Sekibo to challenge his nomination as minister.
“Who killed Chief Gospel Biobele? Chief Gospel Biobele was the one who wrote a petition against Abiye not to be a minister when he was nominated. Immediately after Biobele wrote the petition, he was killed in his house the next day. Abiye Sekibo who killed Biobele?”
Governor Wike said that Justice Kayode Eso, who has since died, was the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which was set up by Chibuike Amaechi’s government and whose report is said to have named Abiye Sekibo as a cult leader in the state.
“Ordinarily, I shouldn’t bother myself about such a man who is now saying they want to kill him. Abiye, I challenge you. Justice Kayode Eso’s judicial panel indicted you as the sponsor of cultism in the state. I’m not the one. Justice Eso, justice of the Supreme Court of the blessed memory, who chaired a judicial panel of inquiry indicted you.”
Governor Wike continued by stating that former president Olusegun Obasanjo removed him as Minister of Transportation due to their allegedly nefarious character and will have no future contact with him.
Governor Wike said that the PDP PCC in Abuja had asked him for permission to use a place in the state for their rally, which he had given.
But when they realised, they couldn’t get enough people to fill the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium; Governor Wike said the PCC went to clear another piece of land owned by the State government in the Trans-Amadi Industrial Layout, which they were not allowed to do.
Governor Wike said that the PCC is making false claims about threats to life because they are not holding their rally in Rivers State. He did not go back to prepare the stadium that had been approved.
“I gave them the stadium; they know they cannot fill it; they are looking for excuses. They went and forced themselves to use government land at Trans Amadi. I said no, that was not where I gave you. Where I gave you was Adokiye Amiesimaka; go and fill that place.
“They now said no, we won’t go there again. We don’t want people to die. Who is killing who? Is anybody killing anybody? I said don’t pay money, I will buy the diesel for you. I will do everything for you. Mobilise, go and fill that stadium. They ran away.”
Governor Wike urged PDP members in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area to support the PDP consolidation team. Additionally, he urged PDP supporters in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area to support the party by winning their wards and political units in the general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11, 2023.
Governor Wike stated that because the outcome of the election is clear, those in the PDP who are loyal to him must try to win their wards so that the party's overall triumph will be secure.
Governor Wike urged them to cast their votes for Prof. Ngozi Odu and Sir Siminialayi Fubara in big numbers so that the achievements of his administration may be built upon and the development agenda can continue for the sake of the state.
In order to guarantee victory for the PDP consolidation team, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, the PDP candidate for governor of Rivers State, requested the support of the residents of Akuku-Toru.
Governor Wike had finished a number of local development initiatives, according to Fubara. These initiatives included the construction of the Abonnema ring road, improved healthcare, the first section of the Trans-Kalabari route, and security.
He pledged that if they supported him and he was elected, his administration would try to better the lives of the local youngsters and the citizens of the state as a whole.
The PDP's Rivers State Chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, spoke at the occasion and presented party flags to each candidate. Additionally, he urged the residents of Akuku-Toru to support all local PDP candidates.
Speaking on behalf of the party's candidates was Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, the deputy governor of Rivers State and candidate for the Rivers West senatorial district. He noted the large crowd there and urged them to continue demonstrating their concern by supporting them in the election.
Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the secretary to the Rivers State administration, claimed in his speech that Akuku-Toru is PDP and that the electorate will demonstrate this by giving all the winning candidates a majority of their votes.
The residents of Akuku-Toru will not let their sentiments about the past influence who they vote for, according to Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, Chairman of the Rivers Elders Forum. Sir Siminialayi Fubara and the other party candidates are such people.
Before travelling to the campaign site, Governor Wike, Fubara, and a few party elders made HRM King Disrael Gbobo Bobmanuel, Amanayanabo of Abonnema, a courtesy visit at his palace.