Controversies seem to have trailed the Labour Party (LP) flagbearer, Peter Obi‘s association with the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, as the governorship candidate of the party in the state, Beatrice Itubo and some aggrieved members blow hot over the move to trade off Rivers LP candidates.
CKN News reports that Itubo has vowed never to step down for Wike’s governorship candidate, Siminialayi Fubara, who is running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Itubo, who expressed worry about Obi’s association with Wike said the governor lacks the capacity to influence votes for him (Obi) in Rivers state.
According to her, with or without Wike, Obi will win in Rivers state, noting that Wike’s promises to deliver Rivers to people is operating himself.
The Rivers state Labour Party governorship candidate had reacted to Obi’s alleged move to trade the party’s candidates in the state for his win in the state at the 2023 general election.
CKN News recalls that Obi, was in Rivers on Thursday as a guest of the governor to inaugurate the Nkpolu-Oroworokwo Flyover,
Obi in his remarks to the governor said “I’ve listened to what you said, you said I should advise Labour people that they should be careful of the state, I’ll talk to them and we will negotiate. So, if we leave the State for him he will leave the centre for us. Is it not?
“If we leave the State for him he will leave the centre for us. So, we will negotiate it, we know you are in charge, and we will not quarrel with you, anybody who quarrels with you doesn’t know what he is doing. I will not try it. I’m begging, please give us this one, take the others, and we will leave it for you. I’ll accommodate them in the other one.”
However, Itubo and other aggrieved Labour Party members reacted to the move saying Obi’s statement was seen within a political context.
Itubo advanced that Obi did not buy forms for her, therefore he would not negotiate anything on her behalf, asking aggrieved members of the party to see the statement as political.
She said that “It is a political statement. He didn’t buy the form for me and I didn’t buy the form for him. Everybody bought the form for themselves. So, I didn’t see how he will go to negotiate for me. I am campaigning in Rivers State. If I didn’t campaign, we will not be a threat. They saw us as a threat and that is why he was trying to negotiate.