The 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, Dr Dakuku Peterside, has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of being on a property acquisition spree.
Peterside, a one-time Commissioner for Works, said that Governor Wike had cornered no fewer than 400 houses for himself and his cronies in ways he described as “ridiculous and undignified.”
He reminisced with nostalgia the agony the same Governor Wike afflicted on some senior civil servants in 2021 when he ejected them from their official residence in the old and new Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) and other areas in Port Harcourt.
Dakuku Peterside, the immediate past Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) expressed shock that Wike had converted some of those houses to his personal property, whilst others were sold-off at ridiculous market value to his friends and cronies.
“Wike will go down as the most greedy and covetous governor in Rivers’ history,” he lamented, adding, “no governor has ever shown such crave for obscene wealth in Nigeria’s history as Wike.”
“Wike’s house in his village, Rumueprikom, with all luxurious appetite that includes a helipad and bullet-proof gadgets, has become the official Government House of Rivers. And in his unbridled lust for estate acquisition, Wike is buying-off more property, including churches, schools, and private family houses, along Ada George area of Port Harcourt, either opposite, behind, or adjacent to his palatial mansion to expand his estate.
“To intimidate his Rivers’ victims more, including the families he forced to relinquish their family legacies to him, Wike has mounted all calibre of surveillance equipment and armed security men to provide 24-hour security around his mansion. On top of all of that, Wike’s appetite to seize-and-acquire, like hell, is enlarging by the day,” he stressed.
Peterside added that “from Diete Spiff to Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi, we had governors who showed humility and never turned their private houses to Government House; they never oppressed Rivers’ people with open displays of wealth as Wike has done.”
The former House of Reps member accused Governor Wike of giving away over 50 houses he used his office as governor to seize from their rightful owners, located in the Old GRA, Amadi Flats, GRA Phases 1, 2 and 3, to his political friends within and outside the state.
“Governor Wike behaves as if he is in control of the future, disregarding the culture of civility, equity, fairness, empathy and due process associated with the exalted office of the Governor; Wike is indeed a shame to Rivers’ people and all that the state represents,” Dakuku Peterside summed up.
