Being gov, a rare privilege to serve my people —Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has declared that being a governor is a rare privilege to serve the people of the state, adding that he will give the position his best shot by laying down his life, if need be.

This was as he said that stealing the mandate of the people in an election was worse than armed robbery, adding that those planning to rig elections in the state would not succeed because the ever vigilant people would stop them.

According to a statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, Wike made this known during a breakfast meeting with the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), led by its president, Mrs Funke Egbemode.

“For me as a governor, this is a privilege to serve my people and I will give it my best shot. I am ready to lay down my life for the state. My commitment to the development of Rivers State is total. I will forever defend it,” the governor said.

“Stealing the mandate of the people is a serious crime and it is worse than armed robbery. In this case, those involved plot to use arms to steal the mandate of Rivers people. That will never succeed. They came to rig the March 19 rerun  elections and the people resisted”, he said.

The governor, who led the NGE executives on a project inspection around Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government areas, maintained that he remained focused because of his love and commitment to the development of the state.

He said he combined  infrastructural development and workers welfare within his first year in office as, according to him, that was the way to revive the state’s economy which was battered by the immediate past administration.

He said the propaganda allegedly being sponsored by the opposition notwithstanding, the state was safe for investments and development.

“It is important for everyone to know that Rivers State is safe and is witnessing massive development. In the next two months, we are hosting  many national events. We have already hosted several national events in the last two months”, he said.

Wike, who pointed out that the majority of the information in the public domain about the state were concocted by the opposition, charged the media to inform the world on the true situation, noting, “For our democracy to continue to succeed, the media has a major role to play. It was publicity that led to the failure of the Turkish coup.”

The statement added that the NGE president, Mrs Egbemode, said the leaders of the Guild had been in the state for days, ahead of its five-day annual conference commencing in Port Harcourt, on Monday.

According to the statement, she said the NGE leadership can confirm that the  state was safe and also commended the governor for performing creditably and judiciously applying scarce for development.

The governor also admitted that his administration surmounted turbulent political and economic challenges to deliver quality pro-people projects and improve the standard of living of the people of the state.

He stressed that the state would attain greater mileage in terms of development if it was not made to face endless rerun elections and politically-induced security challenges.