By Akinwale Kasali
Finally, the acid-tongued Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, seem to have met his match in Senator Dino Melaye, a Governorship Aspirant in Kogi State.
The two men, ironically, of the same party, are in an “expose-match. And, it remains to see who would expose each other the most.
Daniel Bwala, a Spokesperson for the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, gave it to Dino, and warned that Wike called out the wrong person this time.
Wike started the match when his acid tongue crossed Rivers State, where he is lord and master, and landed in Kogi State, Dino’s turf.
In an interview with his usual select -Journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Wike ran Dino down and dismissed him as an unserious person who would never win the Governorship seat of Kogi. He said no serious party would field Dino as a Candidate, and described his ambition as a joke. He warned the PDP of the dangers of fielding Dino as its Candidate.
In Dino’s first response, he advised Wike to stay in his own lane and avoid his (Dino’s lane) as he, Dino, would tame and devour Wike. Dino described himself as a lion killer, and warned that he is at home with the fight Wike is embarking on.
Apparently, Dino was just warming up. To prove that, he has followed up with a second response.
In a very strong gloves-off video response, Dino exposed Wike for “who he is.” He revealed that Wike was so desperate to be Running mate to Atiku that Wike phoned him, 19 times, within two hours to plead with him and his friends to convince Atiku to announce him. He said there are witnesses and evidences. According to Dino, Wike waited at the Airport for hours, just to hear that Atiku had chosen him, but was finally disappointed, and left, when he called to tell Wike that the game was over, and he was not chosen.
He said Wike’s resort to screaming he was fighting for the South, for equity, is a fat lie. Wike began to shout about the South, said Dino, when he failed to clinch the VP ticket.
Dino also confirmed that it was Wike who chose Dr Iyorchia Ayu, a Northerner, as the National Chairman of the PDP, and pushed Prince Uche Secondus, a Southerner, away, in his scheming to be the Presidential candidate. He asked: If Wike had even succeeded in being Atiku’s Running Mate, if he could have fought for Ayu’s removal, or shouted “the South.”
Following is Dino’s recorded video response just released, where he threatened to open a can of “worms and maggots” on Wike, and warned that his “primary business is other people’s businesses.”
Here goes:
“My Primary business is other people’s businesses. If I open my can of worms and maggots on Wike, I am waiting for him. It is the territory he is trying to practice but it is my own primary constituency and I am waiting for him.
“He is a pretentious character, he is a liar and he has no integrity, no iota of integrity.
“Wike was calling me when Atiku Abubakar was about to announce his Running Mate. I have records and I have printed it out, and Iam waiting for him. He called me 19 times in Two Hours begging us to convince Atiku Abubakar to make him the Vice President Candidate.
“When I see him lying on Television that he is fighting for the country, that the National Chairmanship position must move to the South, I just laugh He was begging and lobbying us, promising us heaven and earth to convince Atiku Abubakar to make him VP, to the extent that he was at the Airport. I have the video.
“He spent hours in the Airport waiting for me to call him and say Atiku has picked him as his running mate. He waited and called me severally at the airport, including my Brother and Friend who was at the Senate together was also calling me on that day. I have witnesses. I even gave the phone to Abdul Ningi to speak with him, I gave the p
phone to Senator Uzamere to speak with him. He was begging all of us, promising us heaven and earth that Atiku should announce him.
“It was around one I told him, ‘Oga nobody go give you Vice President’. That was when he left and flew back.
“The Man was so desperate to be Vice President. Because you didnt get it, you now started a Southern Agenda.
“I don’t believe in such an unprincipled, zero integrity character like Nyesom Wike. The Man was the one who brought Ayu. Wike was the one who sponsored Ayu and that was why Wike made all the Governors endorse Ayu, that was why there was no election for the National Chairmanship office during the Convention.
“Ayu was unopposed, and now you are saying power must go to the South. Maybe because of the alcohol he took. He thought Ayu was from Abia State when he was supporting him because Ayu is from the North. You are the one that brought Ayu. When did you now realise that Ayu is a Northerner? But he was doing that then to satisfy his selfish ambition of becoming the Presidential Candidate from the South, so he doesn’t want the Chairmanship at that time to go to the South so that it won’t affect his ambition of becoming a Southern President.
“So he pushed the Chairmanship to the North, and thinking he would be able to bribe Ayu to produce him as the Presidential Candidate.
“When Ayu refused to do the wrong thing, then Ayu became an enemy. Is it not Wike that removed his brother, mentor, Prince Uche Secondus as the National Chairman of the party?
“If you love the South so much, why did you remove a Southerner to bring in a Northerner? Today, you are saying Chairmanship must go to the South. Was the Chairmanship not in the South? Was it not you, Wike that went to the Court, did everything, and expelled him (Secondus) from his Ward?
So a character who is not stable like that, who is influenced by alcohol and other things i don’t know should not be taken seriously.”
In its reaction to the Wike/Dino tango, Barrister, of Atiku Presidential Campaign Council, said Wike has called out the wrong crew.
He tweeted: “Gov. Wike has been fighting and insulting people, and today he called out a wrong crew.
“Dino just released a teaser to the main movie, and tables are shaking already.The coming days would be El- Classicos.”
Recall that Wike vigorously worked against his Party’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku, during the 25th February 2023 Presidential Election. He worked for the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu.
