Governor Godwin Obaseki has replied to his Governor Nyesom Wike’s tirades, saying that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not belong to him, describing his Rivers counterpart as a bully.

“While governor Wike is free to use his resources as he deems fit in pursuit of his ambition, he should not attempt to cow, intimidate, cajole and threaten others into doing his bidding. Edo state cannot and will not be procured for anyone’s personal ambition,” asserted the Edo governor.

Mr Obaseki said this in a statement titled, ‘PDP is not your personal property, Edo cannot be procured’.

“It clearly amounts to delusion of grandeur, for any one man to nurse the idea that he owns or has more stake in the PDP and everyone should pander to him,” he added. “In Edo, we don’t accept political bullies and overlords and historically, we have demonstrated our capacity to unshackle ourselves and dethrone bullies and high-handed leaders.”

The statement was in response to Mr Wike’s remarks regarding Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu, who hinted that he and Mr Obaseki might leave PDP as they did not feel accepted and welcomed after defecting from APC.

Angered by the comment, Mr Wike pointed out that the PDP provided Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu a political shed, gave them the party’s governorship ticket in 2020 when APC ditched them.

“Threatening the party, that there are alternatives to PDP. This is the same people that were kneeling down to beg for us to give them the umbrella. Today, you have the effrontery to threaten the PDP. Such a shame,” said Mr Wike at the inauguration of the eastern bypass project in Port Harcourt.

The Rivers governor added that PDP should sanction Mr Shuaibu.

However, Mr Obaseki noted that “he (Edo deputy governor) at no point threatened the party as governor Wike has alleged.”

“The recent personal attacks by his excellency, the Governor of rivers state, Rt. Hon. Nyesom Wike, against my deputy governor, Rt. on. Comrade Philip Shaibu is, to say the least, most unfortunate and totally uncalled for,” Mr Obaseki stated. “If governor Wike was one who is wont to show respect and courtesy to his colleague-governors, he would have ordinarily reached out to me to express his concerns about the views made by my deputy governor, rather than embarking on this unwarranted public onslaught.”

“My deputy governor was a former national president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and his comment is representative of the essence of the nation’s youth population, who are inclined to openly speak up and question the status quo,” noted Mr Obaseki. “If governor Wike cannot understand and adequately respond to the style and character of the nigerian youth, how can he aspire to lead them?”

According to him, the concerns expressed by the Edo deputy governor bordered on pertinent issues affecting the PDP in Edo.

He explained that since the September 19, 2020 elections, over 500,000 members were registered.

“To date, these new members have not been properly integrated into our party after two years,” the Edo governor pointed out.

Mr Obaseki accused Mr Wike of colluding with “a cabal purportedly led by chief Dan Orbih, who is your perpetual guest in Port Harcourt and is remotely used to orchestrate the destabilization of the party in Edo state.”