From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has challenged Senator Lee Maeba to prove his allegation that Governor Nyesom Wike has issued a threat against anyone campaigning for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the state.
State Publicity Secretary, Tambari Sydney Gbara, stated this in an interview with Daily Sun in Port Harcourt.
Gbara, who countered the allegation, said the governor has not given any official statement regarding Maeba’s claims, stressing that it would be proper for him (Maeba) to produce a proof of the alleged threat.
He said: “That allegation he (Maeba) was saying was not an official statement of the governor. Though I was not in the place where the alleged threat was made; but, Senator Lee Maeba is in a better position to prove more of that allegation.
“If governor wants to make that statement, he would make it official, that, in the State, nobody should campaign for Atiku Abubakar.
“Governor Wike is not somebody that hides his feelinyg. If he wants to say that, I don’t think that he would say it privately. So, the person making the allegation should come out and prove himself. He (Maeba) should be able to furnish Rivers people and Nigerians with an evidence.”
The state party’s spokesman, however, noted that it was common to get such an allegation during political election season, advising that party leaders should be catalysts of peace not discord.