PDP, APC bicker over Wike’s N9bn loan

The Rivers State chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are again at each other’s throat over a N9 billion bank loan recently applied for by Governor Nyesom Wike.

It will be recalled that the governor, on Monday, got the approval of the members of the state House of Assembly to access the loan facility, which he said was meant for capital projects from Zenith Bank.

However, the state chairman of APC, Dr Davies Ikanya, on Tuesday, condemned the legislative approval, alleging that the loan was being obtained by the governor to prosecute the legislative rerun scheduled to hold in the state on July 30.

The state PDP publicity secretary, Mr Sam Nwanosike, denied the allegation and declared that neither the party nor Governor Wike needed to take loan to prosecute the election.

Ikanya said the loan was to enable the governor to buy his way through during the election, adding: “We believe that this action accentuates the level of feverish desperation that has enveloped the governor, who is infamous for coming to power at the needless expense of several lives of innocent Rivers people and Nigerians.

“Governor Wike is obviously frightened by the prospect of his candidates losing in the forthcoming rerun, especially in the Rivers South-East axis, where his morbid fear for the rising profile and popularity of Senator Magnus Abe has become unbearable for him.

However, Nwanosike said the allegation was not only laughable, but also that the APC leadership had lost its sense of reasoning as there was no way the loan in question can be accessed before the legislative rerun.

“APC has nothing else to tell the people of Rivers State than to say Wike is seeking for loans to win elections, but my brothers in Rivers APC and their chairman have, by the latest allegation, demonstrated that they have lost their sense of reasoning.

“Governor Wike does not need the N9 billion loan or any loan to win the rerun as Rivers is a PDP state. The allegation is more laughable due to the fact that the election in question is coming up on July 30,” he said.

He also advised the main opposition party in the state to stop playing politics with governance, adding that they should rather swallow their pride and acknowledge that Governor Wike was, indeed, working to ensure good governance and development in the state.