Ex-Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, not to neglect a group of PDP stalwarts led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
Jang told Atiku that attempting to ignore the group, of which he is a member, would negatively affect his ambition to win the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking on Saturday while flagging off the construction of Omagwa internal roads in Rivers State on Wike’s invitation, Jang said Atiku must close ranks with the group to win in 2023.
He said: “I want to call on our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to close ranks with all members, particularly members of your (Wike) group of which I’m proudly one . Doing this will guarantee victory in 2023 general elections.
“These men and women, as I have said, worked hard to build this party and they cannot just be wished away overnight. We need to come together, settle our differences by recognising that you need each and every one of us for you to win the general election.”
Jang commended Wike for contesting the PDP presidential primaries and for supporting the party since 2015.
Lamenting the mismanagement of the national economy, je said even in the twilight of his administration, Wike had continued to keep faith with Rivers people by commissioning and flagging off new projects.
He said: “At this point, in our nationhood, Nigeria is down with inflation that rates over 18 per cent. Foreign reserves are dwindling by the day, and external debts are at high time.
“We have no infrastructure to show for it. No commensurate economic growth. But here we are, on the 20th day of August 2022, in the Peoples Democratic Party administration in River State, celebrating good governance in the twilight of his (Wike) this administration.”
In his remarks, Wike directed the security agencies to arrest the owner of a filling station involved in illegal oil bunkering in Port Harcourt
The governor said government would ensure the prosecution of the owner of the filling station to demonstrate its resolve to reduce illegal oil bunkering activities in the state to the barest minimum.
Wike confirmed that a filling station was sealed two day ago and he had ordered the security agencies to identify the owner and arrest him for prosecution.
He said: “If I hear of any filling station involved in oil bunkering, I will close that filling station. Therefore, I have directed the security agencies to identify who has that filling station in Diobu, arrest that person and we are going to prosecute the person. It doesn’t matter how highly placed that person is.
“Some of you should be used to teach a lesson. We cannot allow oil bunkering. We will reduce it to the barest minimum. So, I have ordered the security agencies to identify who owns that filling station that was sealed up two days ago and arrest the owner. Let him tell us why he is involved in oil bunkering.”
He maintained that his administration had been spending huge resources to guarantee safety of life and property, adding that he would not hesitate to clamp down on any group of individuals plotting to destabilise the state.
Providing the description of the project, Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Dr Dakorinama George-Kelly said the internal roads in Omagwa clan were 12 in number, all interconnected and woulf be completed in 10 months.
According to him, the total length of the roads is 10.95km, with two separate width size of 8.3 metres and 7.3 metres and 21.9 km of drains.
