Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has promised that the governor-elect Siminalaye Fubara and the deputy governor-elect, Prof. Ngozi Odu, will outperform him.
Wike made the assurance during a public lecture and book presentation in his honour yesterday at the Dr. Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt.
The governor stated that his administration received tremendous support from Rivers State leaders and people, allowing him to achieve the success that is being celebrated.
He asked for the same support for his successor because if the Fubara administration fails, it will mean that everything that allowed him to become the next governor had failed.
“I have that belief that the governor-elect and the deputy governor-elect will do very well,” Wike said. He is someone you can count on. I can tell you that his yes is a yes.
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“He’s an accountant; they’re extremely conservative.” They don’t spend money in any case. They spend the money where they know it will be put to good use. So don’t compare us to one another. But he’s a wonderful person.”
The governor urged Rivers residents to recognize that no two people are alike and that they should not expect the same level of relationship with the incoming government that they did with his administration.
“Don’t compare the way I relate to you to the way the incoming administration must relate to you,” he said. We have different styles, but what matters is that we are able to deliver what will make our people happy.”
Wike, on the other hand, stated that Rivers’ governor-elect, Fubara, will be committed to delivering what the people of Rivers want.
“When people were struggling to be governor, he never came to me and said sir, I am interested,” the governor said.
“Only those who had no interest in the state were those who were masquerading themselves, running around, those who I knew would sell the state the next day, and I thank God they have all left.”
He emphasized that the journey had not been easy, but he had overcome the obstacles with focus, commitment, and the help of God.
Prof Julius Ihonvbere, who delivered the 2023 inauguration lecture titled “Democracy, Transformational Leadership, and Sustainable Development: The Rivers Experience,” praised Governor Wike’s tactically strategic politics for producing results in the state and beyond.
“Wike brought in a new phase of domestic and international appreciation of the state’s location in economic calculations,” Ihonvbere said.
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“There is no one in the history of the state who can compare to Wike in terms of infrastructure.”
“Like a man in a hurry to finish an assignment, he unleashed massive interventions, often at great cost, on practically every sector, especially health, education, justice administration, and rural development,” he said.
