Rivers State Governor,Nyesom Wike, says Dino Melaye does not have what it takes to be governor.
Wike made this assertion on Tuesday while speaking at a media chat in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers.
Wike said if Melaye wins the party’s ticket, he can’t defeat other candidates in the race to secure victory in the governorship election scheduled for November 11.
“When you give Dino that ticket you know he won’t win in Kogi state. You’re talking about governance of a state, we are not talking about drama,” he said
“Dino does not have what it takes. What is he going to do? Why would Kogi people say they will vote for Dino? Are we joking?
“He does not have what it takes to be a governor at all. It is not about coming to act drama on television.”
According to him, if Dino gets the ticket of the party, the party is doomed to lose the exercise.
“Does it mean now that if the PDP wants to win the election, it would give the ticket to Dino and you say tomorrow that you were rigged when you have already killed yourself?” he wondered.
“Are we saying that we want to win an election or just have a candidate?” the former minister asked.
Asked whether he would campaign for Dino if eventually gets the ticket, Wike said he won’t under any circumstances campaign for the former lawmaker
“Do you need to ask me that kind of question? Are you not aware that I would not do that?” Wike said
However, in his swift reaction, Melaye in a statement released said it was surprising that Wike has suddenly become the self-appointed public office regulator, who could determine what would happen in states.
“On recovering from his inebriation, Wike should be reminded that Kogi is not Rivers, and the people of Kogi State would not worship any foreign God.
“Above all, Wike should also understand that power belongs to God, and he gives it to whoever he wants, even the basest of men. And but for this absolute and indiscriminate dispensation by God, how did a conceited person like Nyesom Wike become a governor? Is it his oratory, diligence, finesse, wealth or intellectual endowment? Melaye wrote.
“Today, Wike can take a swipe at me, and mark me down as unqualified to govern my state, but has he forgotten that he believed my Gubernatorial aspiration in 2019? Can he be reminded that I have served as a member of the Federal House of Representatives and have also been elected twice into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Melaye said Wike is against his governorship ambition because he backed PDP flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar against his aspiration to become the flag bearer of the party.
“I can understand the pain of Wike. He wanted my support for his misplaced aspiration to become the Flagbearer of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 Presidential election, but knowing his avowed credential to be eminently unworthy of the ticket I deployed support for His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, a cosmopolitan and cultured statesman who ignored all the tantrums of Wike throughout the period of the election. Wike is probably mistaken me for His Excellency Atiku Abubakar.
“He (Wike) needs to appreciate that now that he has touched the tiger’s tail and murdered sleep, the discomfort of a bird perched on a rope has now become his portion.
“If Wike were a reflective mind he should now be more concerned about his post-tenure survival, because with the recklessness he exhibited in mismanaging the resources of Rivers State, his prison uniform must have been sewn and his inmate number must be waiting for his allocation. As for me I will not only continue to savour my freedom, I will be sending relief assistance to Wike from Government House Lokoja, by the grace of God.”
According to Melaye, Wike’s indiscretion and war of attrition embarked on contributed to the public perception of PDP
“He sees nothing good in the Leadership of the Party, yet he can not move to another Party, because which Party will accept Wike in his irredeemable state of ignominious liability.
“Wike, stay on your lane. I am Daniel Dino Melaye. My speciality is to tame lions, whether they be white or black, dwelling in rocks or floating on Rivers,” he added