Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said that he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal confirmed his election because it was better to offer public congratulations than visit the President at night.
Wike said that unlike some governors of the Peoples Democratic Party who visit President Muhammadu Buhari at night, he made his declaration public because it came from the heart.
He spoke at the funeral service of late Madam Blessing Awuse, mother of one of PDP leaders in the state, Sergeant Awuse, held at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Emohua, on Thursday.
He said, “I am sure all of you are surprised that I congratulated Buhari. Is it not good for me to congratulate him than to go to his house in the night?
“Many PDP governors go to see him in his house in the night. I have never gone and I will not go. I won’t go.
“We are the only state that the Federal Government refused to pay us our money used to execute federal projects because I don’t go to see him in the night and I won’t go.
“He is not my friend; he is not doing well, but he won in court. Should I say that the court did wrong? No.
“President Buhari, congratulations and carry Nigerians along. Unify the country; the country is too divided. I am saying what is right. What I will do, I will do; what I will not do, I will not do.”
On the passage of late Mrs. Blessing Awuse, Wike said she lived a fulfilled life and raised disciplined and trustworthy children, describing her burial as a celebration of life.
Chief Mourner, Sergeant Awuse, thanked the governor for his love and friendship, saying, “Wike always intervenes at the most critical time.”
Anglican Bishop of Ikwerre Diocese, Rt. Rev. Blessing Enyindah, praised the governor for his commitment to the development of the state.