Pidomson Accuses Wike Of Doing Omehia Dirty

By Adesina Soyooye

“You were calling him Governor when he supported you”

The Rivers State Governorship  Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dr  Gabriel Pidomson, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of doing dirty to another former Governor  of the State, Mr Celestine Omehia.

Pidomson accused Wike of visiting Omehia with vindictiveness.

The two were on the same side when Wike and another former Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, fell apart. The two of them fought from same front.

Just a little background. Omehia was the Governor  of Rivers State when the Supreme Court sacked him after five months and installed Amaechi as Governor. Their relationship soured, very badly, cousins as they are.

At the time, Wike was Amaechi’s Chief of Staff. But soon, Wike and Amaechi fell apart, and Wike and Omehia teamed up against Amaechi.

When Wike eventually became Governor, he recognised Omehia as a former Governor and restored all his privileges. He even gave him a State honour. They went to all State functions together.

Then came the Presidential race of 2023, and Omehia and others supported Atiku Abubakar after he defeated Wike at the Presidential Primaries. An outraged Wike pounced on Omehia.

He declared  Omehia’s tenure as Governor illegal, citing his sack by the Supreme Court. He stripped him of the title of “former Governor”, stopped his allowances, stripped him of the State honour he had awarded him, and put a final stamp on his actions by personally removing Omehia’s photograph in the gallery of former Governors. For good measure, he asked Omehia to return all salaries and allowances paid to him. It took a Court to remove that burden from Omehia.

But Pidomson speaking in an interview with SYMFONI TV’s Niger Unfiltered podcast on Monday, criticised Wike for pursuing legal action against Omehia after benefiting from Omehia’s political support.

He said that disagreements which came up because of governance should not justify stripping a former ally of his entitlements as Wike did to Omehia.

Wike’s actions, he said, ran contrary to what were expected of a statesman.

He said to Wike: “The same man you recognised and worked with, you were calling him governor when he was supporting you.

“Omehia should not be erased from the state’s history.”