Internal row in Rivers State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has deepened as the Chief of Staff to the state governor, Emeka Woke and Senator Lee Maeba, exchanged words over alleged threat to life.
Maeba had, on Saturday, alleged that a meeting was held at Government House, Port Harcourt to clampdown on him and others.
But Woke debunked the allegation, yesterday, describing Maeba’s claim as a spurious tale concocted by a deranged mind.
Maeba, who represented Rivers East District in the House of Representatives, recently, fell out with Governor Nyesom Wike following his support for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who is at a loggerhead with Wike.
Woke denied the allegation at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Council during the grand finale of the statewide Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) collection sensitisation rally.
But when contacted yesterday, Maeba insisted: “They cannot deny that, it is obvious that Governor Wike has has directed Government House security to clampdown on PDP members alleged to be in support to Atiku. The story was on Facebook on the 25th of April by one Macpherson. Why didn’t the government respond to that at the frequency it responded to my statement? Facebook is a credible social media platform; if it was a false story, why didn’t Facebook pull it down? It is over a week and Government House never responded and that was why I had to alert the public.”
Meaba alleged that those marked for attack include: Senator George Sekibo, Rt. Hon Austin Opara, Celestine Omehia, Dr. Abiye Precious Sekibo, Prince Uche Secondus, Chinyere Igwe, Dr. Farah Dagogo, among others.
But the Chief of Staff dismissed all, saying: “My brothers, such thing did not happen and it will not happen. Any person that cannot come to Rivers State should look for a better excuse and not killing excuse.
“This government, we don’t kill anybody. We have never and will never kill anybody. Please, if you don’t have strength, tell your people that you don’t have strength.”
He also took a swipe at the former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, who hails from Opobo, for claiming that Wike’s administration had done nothing for the council.
He wondered why Dakuku, who served as a Commissioner for Works under the Chibuike Amaechi’s administration and never made any effort to advance work on the Opobo axis of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road, from the point the administration of Dr. Peter Odili stopped work, would turn around to lie against a governor who provided road for the people of Opobo.
But in a swift reaction, an aide to Dakuku, Mr. Martins Ogolo, noted that Chibuike Amaechi’s administration sand-filled the Opobo town and created a landmass half the size of old Opobo town under the watch of Dr. Dakuku Peterside.
