The Governor of Rivers State, Nysome Wike, has denied claims that he denigrated his Imo State counterpart, Governor Hope Uzodinma,
Reports had claimed that Governor Wike described Governor Uzodinma as an “internationally recognised fraudster”, while responding to recent comments the Imo State Governor made over the September 19, 2020, Governorship election in Edo State.
The report had quoted Wike as saying:
“When Governors are talking, Hope Uzodinma should not talk, because he is an internationally recognised fraudster, who stole a mandate that does not belong to him, through the help of his APC cabals, and tomorrow if democratically elected Governors are talking, someone declared Governor through the back door, will come out and talk too.”
However, in a statement by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, Governor Wike said that the comments ascribed to him are false.
According to the statement, desperate people fabricated the comments and ascribed it to Wike.
His words: “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the news circulating in the social media, that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State denigrated his Imo State counterpart, Governor Hope Uzodinma.
“The purveyors of the deliberate falsehood, alleged that Governor Wike replied Governor Uzodinma over a recent statement, where he allegedly boasted that the All Progressives Congress, APC, will teach the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Governor Wike, how to conduct a transparent election in the forthcoming Edo State Gubernatorial election.
“The concocted story only existed in the imagination of the authors, and so, there was also no disparaging comment by Governor Wike.
“Members of the public are hereby advised to discountenance all the information contained in the said publication, as they did not emanate from Governor Wike.”
