He said for the leading opposition party to be rebuilt, it should be liberated from vampires and buccaneers.

Wike, arrowhead of the aggrieved PDP governors – G5 – said despite the antics of those who fragmented the platform, efforts will be made to rebuild it into a formidable party.

The governor, who has been at loggerheads with the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakr, and national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu,  spoke during the inauguration of the 10-kilometre road constructed by his administration in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area.

He blamed former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate Magnus Abe for misleading Igbo and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state.

Also receiving the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo at the Government House, Port Harcourt, the state capital, Wike said G5 was satisfied with the emergence of a president from the South.

He disclosed that the G5 contributed to the actualization of zoning and power shift to the South.

Justifying the position of G5 on the 2023 polls, Wike said those who violated the provisions of the PDP constitution for rotation of elective and appointive offices would be thrown out of the party.

He said: “We have finished the first phase of the war. We are going to the second phase of the war. In the second phase of the war, we must chase out the buccaneers and vampires. We are going to chase them out of the party, take our party and rebuild our party.

“These people left our party in 2014/2015 and our party lost in the election. Again, they have come back, our party has lost again. They have destroyed our party. We are going to chase them out of our party. They have no role to play in our party.”

Wike said it was hypocritical for the national leadership of the PDP,  which blatantly jettisoned provisions of Section 7 (3) C of the party’s constitution that recommends rotation of elective and appointive offices, to accuse the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of not following its guidelines for the conduct of the general election.

He said: “You are blaming INEC chairman, he did not follow guideline. You, did you follow our own constitution? He who seeks equity must come with clean hands. Whatever you sow, you will reap.”

The governor maintained that by breaching Section 7 (3) C of the PDP constitution, the PDP leadership had committed anti-party that led to its humiliating loss in the presidential election.

Wike said: “I am an apostle of power shift. I fought for it. I have no apology to anybody. I said power must shift from the North to the South.  I did not commit any anti-party. I fought for the unity of the country. Those of them at the national level in PDP committed anti-party.

“When people abandon the provisions of constitution of their party that talks about zoning of elective and appointive offices, what is more anti-party than that? You that refuse to obey the constitution of your party because of impunity; because you think you have the number, so, you refuse to obey the provisions of the constitution of your party.”

The governor maintained that the loss suffered by the PDP during the presidential election was avoidable, if not for the obstinacy of those, who erroneously believed that certain cabal in Aso Villa would install them.

Wike said Rivers had reaffirmed its commitment to the PDP by winning all the three senatorial and nine out of ten House of Representative seats declared so far by INEC.

The governor also took a swipe at his predecessor Rotimi Amaechi, whom he accused of stoking conflict between the people of Rivers and their Igbo neighbours.

He said Amaechi’s attempt to reintroduce the long forgotten issue of abandoned property because of his inordinate political agenda smacked of mischief.

He described as preposterous Amaechi’s promise to the Igbo that they would be compensated for abandoned property in the state, if they supported his crony, Tonye Cole, in the governorship election.

Wike said: “We are living in peace, harmony with our (Igbo) brothers and sisters. Because he wants to install Tonye Cole, he is now talking about issue we have long forgotten.

Wike said if Amaechi truly loved the Igbo, he would have supported the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, instead of mobilising for the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who is from the North.

He said: “Amaechi, you are half smart. You said you love the Igbos, but you supported Atiku for president. You refuse to support Obi. You didn’t know the Igbos then, that you were supposed to support them.

“When he (Amaechi) was running for president, he said power should come to the South. When he lost, he didn’t believe in that again. So, power should go to the North so that when the North finishes, he will beg them to give him power.  No way.

“Within us in our Integrity Group, we agreed that we must make sure power comes to the South and in any state where you have control, if Labour Party comes first, APC must come second. If APC comes first, Labour Party must come second, and we did it. I am proud to say it.”

The governor also castigated the governorship candidate of the SDP, Senator Abe, for lying to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that if they supported his ambition, he would sponsors Rivers people on pilgrimage to Israel.

He declared that currently in the country, no state government could claim it had supported Christendom more than his administration.

The governor said the Rivers State government had donated N800m and N500m respectively to the Anglican and Catholic churches’ university projects.

‘Wike explained to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership that as an advocate of Southern presidency, it was not possible for him to have worked against the chances of any presidential candidate from the South.

Wike described as untrue allegations against him on the social media that he worked against Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate.

He said: “I supported that power must come to the South. When Obi came here, I gave him all the logistics; vehicles, and paid for the stadium, but some other persons applied and I refused. You should know me too well by now,” he said.

Wike explained how Obi eventually decided to leave PDP for the LP.  “Obi was running with us. I knew when Obi left. He was principled and he said he can’t stand it, people should say the truth. He went to see Sule Lamido in Jigawa, not in Dutse, but in a village that will take you more than four or five hours drive from Dutse, the capital.

“You know what he told Obi? He didn’t tell him that look, you came late and I have chosen somebody. He said it is the North that will produce the next president. That was how Obi left, saying why is he wasting time. Ask him, that’s how he left PDP.

“And that was what I saw at the convention ground. Within minutes, knowing that I was going to win, your sons were all the ones who did everything, sabotaged me. I said ok, no problem.

“But I still maintained that look, if you have taken the presidential candidate, you can’t take chairmanship again. Give us back the chairman and I still stand by that and if you don’t do that, whatever you see, you take.”

Wike said people like him were hated because they spoke their minds always, insisting that he would not apologise to anybody.

He recalled that before the election, the Integrity Group had met in Abuja and took a decision to support the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, who maintained that power must shift to the South in the interest of national unity.

Wike said the G5 agreed that no votes in their states should be ceded to any northern candidate, which was what really happened.

The governor pointed out that the results of election in those states showed that Southern presidential candidates came first and second due to the massive support they got.

He said: “And we also agreed we must vote for the South, no vote for the northern candidate. Our contributions, nobody knows. If you check the pattern, we agreed, the South must come first and second in any state. And check it, all the voting patterns. If Labour Party wins here, APC will take second. If APC wins here, Labour Party will take second.

“That was our position. All my campaigns, nobody can say he heard me abuse Obi or Tinubu. I didn’t do that. My campaign was against people of impunity who disobeyed the (PDP) constitution by saying there should not be zoning when there is a provision in our party’s constitution that there must be zoning of elective and appointive offices.”

Wike berated Amaechi, who told Igbo residents to support Cole of the APC, and get compensation for abandoned property.

The governor said because of election, Amaechi was scratching old scars and fanning the ember of violence to disrupt the prevailing cordial relationship between Rivers people and the Igbos in the state.

Wike said if he loved the Igbos that much, he would have implemented such compensation when he was governor for eight years.

The governor also condemned the allegation by Amaechi that the foreign scholarship his administration floated was discontinued because of the Igbo on the slot.

Wike insisted that the scholarship scheme was discontinued because of the exchange rate of the dollar and the quantum of none specialised courses like philosophy, English, Law and arts students that were sponsored to study abroad.

Wike emphasised that while those students were withdrawn, his administration had sustained full  scholarship to students studying medical and allied professions in Rivers State University and PAMO University of Medical Sciences.

Deputy National Legal Adviser of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr. Peter Anele, said Igbos had long sought to produce the president of Nigeria and they saw the last presidential election as an opportunity to clinch it.

He noted that Wike had done the Igbo proud as a voice against social injustice and marginalisation of Igbo, while creating conducive business climate for them. He also applauded him for appointing an Igbo into his cabinet

The president of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Rivers State, Lucky Ekeji, said Igbos were not at war with the Rivers State government. He assured that as a group, Ohanaeze has urged Igbos in the state to support the governorship bid of Sir Siminialayi Fubara.