Group decries attack on wike

THE Grassroots Development Initiative has expressed dissatisfaction over the recent verbal attack on its grand patron and the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, by a lawmaker representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chief Andrew Uchendu.


Uchendu had queried the decision by the minister from the same senatorial district with the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to run for the 2015 governorship election.

The lawmaker had expressed the need for Wike to embrace the zoning formula, which he state had been following for a long time, adding that it was politically wrong for the minister to aspire to be governor after Amaechi.

But the Secretary General of the group, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Saturday, described Uchedu’s statement as the ‘ranting of a drowning grandpa.’

Nwanosike explained that Wike had not declared any intention to contest the governorship position in 2015 and challenged Uchendu to point to any section of the constitution that criminalised a political ambition by any qualified person.

“Uchendu is the wrong person to talk about zoning of elective office because he has not led by example. If he did, why did he not relinquish the House of Representatives slot to Ikwerre Local Government the way his predecessor Appolos Amadi did after one term in office?

“Instead, Uchendu kept the office to himself for three solid terms. At that time, he saw nothing wrong with one man from one section of the constituency holding on to office for 12 years to the exclusion of all others.

“As to whether or not Wike will make those who want to destroy Obio/Akpor uncomfortable, jumping to the arena in order to please his master; Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Uchendu has merely admitted that he is one of those who want to destroy Obio/Akpor.

“By that admission, does he expect the Obio/Akpor people to fold their hands and watch Uchendu and his collaborators destroy the LGA? Those who have no intention to destroy Obio/Akpor have nothing to worry about what the minister said because the statement is qualified,” Nwanosike noted.

In his reaction, Uchendu explained that contrary to the group’s claim, he was neither selfish nor greedy.

The lawmaker, who spoke through his legislative aide, Mr. Azubuike Odum, said, “Nwanosike, based on warped reasoning, has shown complete ignorance of the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The nation’s constitution does not forbid or limit the number of times a parliamentarian will run for office. As a matter of fact, the number of times a parliamentarian runs is always seen as an indication of his effectiveness and acceptability by his people.

“Uchendu made history by ensuring that Oduoha and Elibrada communities have their roads tarred for the first time in their history, during this period he has worked closely with Amaechi. The road is there for people like Nwanosike to drive through at anytime.”

The lawmaker maintained that it would not be fair for the Ikwerre ethnic nationality to deny other ethnic groups the opportunity to govern the state.”