Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said that the people and voting masses of the State will punish the national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections for abandoning them during the flood incidents of October and November 2022.

Speaking yesterday at Akinima Town, Ahoada West Local Government Area of the State during the PDP Campaign flag-off rally, Wike who explained that the flooding situation submerged houses, displaced people, and disrupted socio-economic life also recalled that while the devastating situation lasted, the national leadership of the PDP refused to visit the affected communities and commiserate with the people of Rivers State when it mattered most.

The Governor reiterated that the inaction of the PDP national leadership could be interpreted as hatred for the people of Rivers State since they readily visited flood-ravaged communities in other States and identified with them and for such an act that suggests that the people of Rivers State do not matter,  Wike said the electorate would employ the power of their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) to “pepper” the PDP national leadership in the forthcoming election.

Speaking further, Wike made a promise to the people of Ahoada West Local Government, stating that his administration would provide them with a completely reconstructed Government Secondary School in Okarki.

He also told them that the contract for the project had been awarded a long time ago and paid for in full, although the people who got the contract had failed to deliver at the agreed time. He assured the people that the contract will be re-awarded and the project completed before his tenure ends on May 29, 2023.

Governor Wike advised that now that the elections will be conducted by electronic means, the people should not allow themselves to be outsmarted by ballot box snatchers in the area. He stressed the need for a massive mobilization of the people in each electoral unit, to enable voters know whom to vote for, and to make sure that PDP wins the election across all levels.