In 2015, Amaechi said Wike used federal might to defeat his candidate, Dakuku Peterside.
During the 2015 Rivers rerun, Buhari was already sworn in as president and Amaechi had federal might yet the PDP under Wike won a landslide in Rivers state.
In 2015, PDP in Rivers state won the presidency, the guber and the state and federal assemblies positions by landslide victories.
In 2019, Amaechi had more than federal
Might: the police, SARS and the Nigerian army were at the call of Amaechi yet Wike still defeated his candidate.
Intimidation and threats cannot sell your candidate to your people.
Unforgiving spirit and authoritarian politics can only breed division and failure.
You had the option of Senator Magnus Abe, but you chose a newbie, Tonye Cole amidst rancour by other party stakeholders.
When his candidacy failed, you left Dumo Lulu-Briggs who has been with the APC and defected peacefully to run as a candidate of the Accord party to choose Engr Biokpomabo Awara of the AAC, another newbie whose name not up to 1000 electorate outside his village know.
One may ask, what were your strategies to deliver these newbies?
The only answer that seems obvious is FEDERAL MIGHT.
During your party’s campaign, you took up the mic and before Rivers people and the entire world, said to Buhari:
“Your excellency, I am not returning to Abuja again until the elections.
This saturday, anything Wike wants we will give it to him.
If it is war o, he will get it!”
Well, true to you, there was excessive use of force and federal might and more than 15 persons were killed by the military in Akuku Toru and other places, yet like you said “Wike got what he wanted.”
Wike won without making much noise nor brandishing guns at the electorates.
Even after it was clear that APC may not field any candidate, Wike did not relent. He toured round the 23 LGA’s of Rivers state.
He initiated the 1million march for Wike and other creative campaign strategies. While you were hoping on the Nigerian army, Wike was busy giving the poor women whose shops were gutted by fire at the PH Fruit market N400k each to restart their small businesses while immediately commencing the rebuilding of the market.
While you were going from radio station to radio station telling people how you will humiliate Wike, the man was busy mending fences with your enemies and some of your old friends. He was carefully removing all your political roots at the grassroot level and building new alliances with some of your aggrieved former loyalists.
While you were chanting war songs for an election, Wike was cheerfully taking a stroll with Rivers people on the streets of Port Harcourt.
Today, Wike is triumphant and the people in Abuja you wanted to impress by killing your own people will only remember you as a politician that never won a single election for the party at any level.
The announced results have clearly shown finally that Federal Might is not a political strategy.
Riverians know what they want!
