‘Anti-party begets anti-party’, it’s my turn to hit back at PDP leaders —Wike

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has vowed to “strike back” at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy for what he called anti-party acts.

At a campaign event for the PDP in the Etche Local Government Area (LGA) in Rivers State on Monday, Wike accused the party’s national working committee of working with the opposition there.

The revelation comes amid a protracted dispute between the PDP leadership and the G5, or Integrity Group, which consists of Wike and four other PDP governors (Benue, Oyo, Abia, and Enugu), over the PDP’s apparent disrespect for equity, justice, and fairness.

The governors have maintained that, in accordance with the PDP constitution, the North cannot provide both the standard bearer and national chairman, ever since former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as the PDP’s presidential candidate in May 2022.

Speaking to party supporters in Etche LGA in a mixture of English and Pidgin, Wike warned that danger was on the way.

He said, “Those of them in Abuja that are talking about anti-party [activities], we have caught them now. They are the ones doing their anti-party (activities).

“I have caught them now and I told them anti-party begets anti-party. You know we carried these small parties to court for failing to do what the law says – APC, SDP.

“The people in Abuja that say they are national have gone to collude with them to write our lawyer a letter that they should take their hands off, in order to kill the cases we filed.”

Wike further said that despite having told the state chapter’s counsel to “remove their hands,” he has no problem with the case dying.

Not mincing words about his plans to fight back, he said, “I will hit them back by tomorrow. There is nobody that touches us that will not get a wound on his body. Anybody that says he will touch us in Rivers State, I will give him many wounds on his body – and we have started it.

“We are voting for our people here. Now [that] you have told us you are doing anti-party. We’ll show you what anti-party is. We have caught them red-handed. They are the ones that started anti-party (activities).

“We didn’t do anti-party (activities). Anyway, it has been in their blood. Now, they have shown their hands. You people should just watch from tomorrow what will happen to them.”

He told the crowd not to cry for his political enemies, saying they are not “our people.”

“Don’t cry when armed robbers catch them because we will teach armed robbers a lesson. We will deal with armed robbers so that they will know it’s not good to steal other people’s things. That’s how we will deal with them tomorrow,” he added.

Urging the party’s supporters to await the decision of Rivers PDP, Wike sakis, “So, Chief Emma Anyanwu, Allwell Onyesoh, Kelechi, (and the) party chairman, all of them will start work to tell you what we have agreed. Anything they say is our agreement, that is what we agreed. Heaven will not fall.

“These few days that remain, it’s a battle to the finish. If you say we won’t be there, you won’t be there either.”