Governor Wike said this during the commissioning of the Police Barracks SPU at Omagwa in Ikwerre LGA of the state on Tuesday, September 28.

He said “NDDC has been a cash cow for politicians. You will see competition over who will be the Managing Director, Executive Director (Finance), Executive Director (Projects). These are people who will make sure money is available for politics. You have portfolio contractors from Abuja. Every now and then, the Managing Director will be running to Abuja. I took NDDC to court, and we defeated them. You enter somebody’s state, you don’t even know the development plan of the state and start distorting the development plan of the state. The road you want to do is not your road. You won’t liaise with the state to say ‘look what project do you want in this state? If you ask all the nine states in the Niger Delta and say State A, what kind of project do you want NDDC to execute? We are not interested in who will be the contractor. Our interest is that we are synergising with you so that you don’t repeat those things we are doing.”

Speaking at the  Police Barracks SPU at Omagwa in Ikwerre LGA of the state on Tuesday, September 28,

Wike said “I don’t know whether it is a sickness in the police. Anywhere they live, the place should be dirty. IG I thank you for saying that you would supervise…look at how clean it is now…I hope when we come back here in a few months, it will be clean like this”

Governor Wike said this when Burna Boy, his parents and management team paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Saturday, March 27.

He said “There is no Rivers person that will say he or she is not happy with the kind of pride you’ve brought us. I am very happy and I can tell you, whatever you think we can do to promote you, we will continue to do it.”

Wike congratulated Burna Boy for the honour he did to the people of the state all over the world explaining that when news broke that Burna Boy was the winner in the Best Global Music Album category with his Twice As Tall album, the entire state was elated.

Wike gave the warning during an interview in the Edo 2020 Situation Room.

Wike said “We have results from about 2,000 polling units from the various wards and from the intelligence we have gathered, I do believe that INEC will keep to that promise of being transparent. But we are getting a bit worried that INEC said they have 700 unit results which is not correct and that calls for concern. We don’t believe that INEC has only 700. It is more than 2,000 that we have. Again, as we speak, they ought to have moved to the ward collation centres before they move to the local government collation centres. But we cannot find the security personnel around the ward collation centres and that gives us concern. They must not allow miscreants to disrupt the electoral process. I believe that the commission will continue with what they have done. Like we have said, we don’t want this election to be inconclusive. This is the critical stage where you may see disruptions and then it will be declared inconclusive. INEC should fulfil its promise that this election will be transparent. We don’t want to hear inconclusive.”

The Rivers State Governor who was accused of being responsible for an order restraining Governor Godwin Obaseki from participating in the PDP primary election ahead of the governorship poll in Edo state lashed out at members of the national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who he described as “tax collectors”.

In a statement released by Rivers state commissioner for information and communication Paulinus Nsirim on Tuesday, June 23, Wike queried the NWC for not consulting with governors in the case of Bayelsa state and further alleged that they are blackmailing him.

Wike said “I told them that in Edo State, we must handle the issue carefully and carry everybody along. They must respect human beings and not behave like tax collectors.  They said because an order was obtained from a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, then I am responsible. I have had sleepless nights to resolve the issue in Edo state. The Governors of Edo, Adamawa, and Delta states, know what I have done to resolve the issues in Edo state. As a result of this senseless accusation, I have pulled out of Edo State settlement. My integrity matters. I have also directed my lawyer to write ThisDay Newspaper on the publication they made against me in their Tuesday, 23rd June 2020 edition. I know the members of the National Working Committee of PDP who connived with ThisDay. They are tax collectors. Let them challenge me and I will come out with more facts. Nobody will rubbish me by raising false accusations against me. I will fight back. I am brought up not to accept injustice, and that is why I keep speaking out on national issues. Nobody in PDP can intimidate Rivers State. Nobody can threaten me because I said things must be done constitutionally. I will always continue to satisfy my conscience. From now on, I want to concentrate on the development of Rivers State.”

In a statement released by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications Paulinus Nsirim, it was gathered that the Rivers state governor also ordered the dismissal of the Head of SMEs, Mr Nimi Harry; the Head of Finance and Accounts, Mr Ukele Okorji; and the Internal Auditor, Mr Sofiri Koko.

Wike further directed that the heads of other departments of the agency be arrested for further investigations.