As the tussle for the successor of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike rages ahead of the 2023 governorship election in Rivers State, a group, Concerned Ogoni Leaders, has charged the Ogonis to rally round their best product and present same for the exulted office.
Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Friday, the group said Ogoni political leaders must close ranks and work together if their desire to produce the next governor of the state would be achieved.
Coordinator of the group and former Commissioner for Economic and Youth Empowerment in the state, Dr. Lelonu Nwibubasa who read the statement, enjoined Ogonis to rally the support of all and advance compelling reasons for these capacity leaders to be given a chance to maintain and promote the enduring legacies of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.
“Our political leaders that have shown strong interest in contesting the 2023 governorship election are men of character and courage. Let us give them our support.
“Let all men that are available transmit their abilities to the one that is capable, only then shall we not be politically vulnerable in 2023”, he said.
The group urged Ogonis to unite around the firm and bold declaration by Governor Wike on the 14th of May, 2021 at the grand civic reception for the governor in Bori, that the Ogonis will no longer play the second fiddle.
Nwibubasa said the position of the Concerned Ogoni Leaders was also hinged against misgivings from some quarters that Governor Nyesom Wike was fueling disunity among Ogoni leaders.
According to him, blaming Governor Wike for not supporting a candidate from Ogoni when the political timing was not even ripe, was rather hasty.
He noted that Governor Wike, unlike his predecessors, had demonstrated what he saw as ‘palpable and verifiable evidence of productive friendship and love for the Ogoni people’.
“The landmark project of the construction of the dualized Saakpenwa-Bori-Kono road is a testament amidst a plethora of others.
A governor that has committed almost N30bn to a singular road project in Ogoni cannot be said to hate Ogoni people rather should be commended as a true leader, friend and brother of the Ogonis”, Nwibubasa declared.
