FORMER Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr Dakuku Peterside has challenged Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike to name his preferred presidential candidate for the February poll.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also condemned unwarranted attacks on the campaign grounds of the party in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area.
Speaking at the APC rally in Opobo-Nkoro, Peterside, in a statement by his Media Team, claimed that “Wike is not a man of courage, as he wants Nigerians to believe”.
He said: “Wike avoids difficult conversations, lacks vision and pursues personal interest above people’s interest.
“I dare Wike to tell the people the presidential candidate he is supporting if he is a man. He had promised his fans that he will unveil his candidate latest January but he lacks courage to take a position”.
Dakuku, an illustrious son of Opobo, expressed deep reservations over the attack on APC rally and accused a local government chairman of introducing violence into an area that had been peaceful since 1999.
He said: “It is a shame that they will go to the extent of attacking their fellow Opobo people because of politics, something that has never happened in our political history.
“Opobo people have been known for political tolerance, diplomacy, exposure and decency but the chairman, acting on the instruction of his gods, has now joined the home of our forebears to the list of flashpoints in Rivers State; this is reckless, irresponsible and disgraceful to say the least.”
The 2015 governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers advised the people of Opobo and Nkoro to choose only a competent “surgeon to perform surgery, competent pilot to fly plane and competent architect to draw houses,” rather than choosing a clan’s man, “who lacks the requisite knowledge to perform any tactical duty”.
Dakuku said: “We cannot choose our clan’s man who is not a doctor to perform surgery or who is not a pilot to fly plane; we cannot go for clan over competence and character.
“The APC has in Tonye Cole, a competent, graceful, intelligent, capable and read-for-the-job governorship candidate. Our people will vote for the APC from bottom to the top and not amount of intimidation will change that.”
THE NATION
