Wike at Airport to welcome Buhari back to Nigeria alongside other governors in 2016

The Rivers State Government said on Saturday that Governor Nyesom Wike will cannot be swayed by pecuniary  interests and will always stand for the truth and defend the interests of his people.

Paul Nsirim, Rivers Commissioner of Information said this in a long article he wrote to respond to earlier article by Mr. Femi Adesina, the senior special adviser to the President on media and publicity.

Adesina had in the article discussed the recent advertisement placed by Governor Nyesom Wike to express appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari over the refund of over N70 billion refund spent on construction of federal roads to Rivers State government.

The presidential aide had noted that the advertisement was out of tune with the usual bashing of the President and regular raising of false alarms about plots of the Federal Government against him and Rivers State the Governor has been known for. (Read the full article here )

But in response on Saturday, Nsirim said the commendations given by Wike to the President in the advertisement showed that the Governor is not afraid to say his minds anytime and depending on the situation.

This, he said, was unlike Adesina, who ‘likes to speak from both sides of his mouth’

He said, “Governor Wike is not like Adesina who knows how to speak from both sides of his mouth. In 2008, he said this about the Chief of Staff to the President: “Gambari enslaved himself to please his paymasters. Now 13 years after, the shackles are still tied around his neck, threatening to asphyxiate him. What an eternal lesson for fawning boot-licking grovelers to learn. Old sins indeed have long shadows.”

“Now that Gambari is Chief of Staff to the President, people have been asking if Adesina still sees Gambari’s sins’ shadows or he (Adesina) has turned to a boot-licking groveler?

“There is no doubt that he is currently savouring the office of Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity as a compensation, having used his positions as former Editor-In-Chief of The Sun Newspapers and President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors to feather his own nest.

“Adesina should be told that no amount of political mischief will turn Governor Wike from a hero to a villain in this matter.

“The Wike that I know  cannot be swayed by pecuniary  interests. He will always stand for the truth and defend the interests of Rivers people.”

Read the full article here