UMAHI WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BLACKMAIL PDP - GOVERNOR WIKE
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has said Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State would not be allowed to blackmail the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike's comments comes after Governor Umahi defected from the PDP to the APC on Tuesday, November 17.
Governor Umahi had claimed that he was responsible for authorizing and sanctioning all operations at the PDP.
Responding to the claims, the former Minister of Education said Governor Umahi has the right to move to any political party of his choice, but would not be allowed to blackmail the PDP.
Governor Wike, while speaking to ARISE TV on Wednesday, November 18, revealed that Umahi had been 'romancing' with the APC before now and had vowed to deliver thirty-five percent votes from the East to President Buhari.
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Wike said; “For me, Umahi has the right to move to the APC, it’s his constitutional right, but we cannot in all cases allow Umahi to blackmail PDP that made him chairman of the party, deputy governor, and governor and then you now realize there is an injustice against southeast.
"All of us in PDP know the romance of Governor Umahi with the APC. We had a meeting and he came out to say yes, we had a meeting and he came out to say he had an agreement with the president that he will give the president 35 to 40 percent as the case may be.
“Umahi cannot threaten me, he knows me too well. When the case of Edo state came up I stood firm and said we cannot go this way, if we go this way we will destroy our party and are bound to lose elections. It, therefore, requires everybody to sit together to agree, and when all of us agreed, we saw the success and that affected us in Ondo state because we could not agree."
Governor Umahi, while announcing his defection to newsmen on Tuesday, November 17, said that he had no regrets leaving the PDP.
He stated that he defected to the APC because of 'injustice' meted out to the South-East by the PDP, and claimed he had no deal with the APC or any member of the party with regards to the zoning of the presidential position to the region.
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