Wike demolished Bayelsa buildings over failed presidential ambition – Nabena

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Yekini Nabena, has criticised the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, for demolishing properties belonging to the Bayelsa State Government in Port Harcourt.

Nabena, in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, also alleged that the demolition was connected to Wike’s failed presidential ambition.

The two residential quarters for workers of Bayelsa State Government, which were sited on a large expanse of land on 5 and 9, Akassa Street, Old GRA, Port Harcourt, were destroyed by Rivers officials who insisted that a vacation notice was issued.

The state government also said the buildings not only constituted a “public nuisance” but also defaced the Rivers State Government’s urban renewal infrastructural development policies.

But the Bayelsa State Government, through the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Andrew Esua, reiterated that the demolition was avoidable as the two states had a long history of cordiality.

Following the heavy criticisms that trailed his action, Wike argued that the said demolition was not the first to be carried out by his administration as part of its urban renewal plan.

But Nabena believed Wike’s excuse was a mere smokescreen cooked up to mask his real motive.

The former deputy spokesman of the APC added,

“In 2019, when the going was good between the two, Wike even spearheaded the Supreme Court case against the APC. At this time Wike did not think of demolishing Bayelsa State properties.

“But because Governor Diri failed to support his failed presidential ambition during Peoples Democratic Party’s primary election, he has suddenly woken up to remember that Bayelsa state properties are defacing an area in Port Harcourt. This is unacceptable.”

“I will, therefore, call on Governor Wike to limit his dictatorship and political drunkenness to Rivers state. The Ijaw Nation will not tolerate disrespect, Bayelsa people will not bow to Wike’s god and as a state. Wike cannot force his political interest over us. Bayelsa is not Rivers.”