The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has told Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to stop speaking while he is under the influence of alcohol.

Wike had while addressing PDP supporters at the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday stated that he was drinking a 40-year-old whiskey while he was watching Atiku and other members of the party on TV protesting against February 25 presidential election in Abuja.

“As they were protesting, I just sat down and took a 40-year whiskey. I called some of my friends and opened the 40-year-old whiskey as they were protesting,” Wike had said.

Reacting, Atiku, in a statement issued on Sunday by Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu enjoined Governor Wike to stay off alcohol, saying it had not only affected his voice and demeanour but “also his thinking faculty”.

Atiku’s aide stated: “Governor Wike has confirmed what we all know. That he is a drunkard. The protest that was led by Waziri Atiku Abubakar on Monday, March 6, 2023, was against the stealing of the mandate of the Nigerian people, which in itself was a noble cause.

“For the sake of clarity, the protest occurred around 11.30 a.m. Governor Wike says he was drinking whisky during the protest at 11.30 a.m. on a Monday. This reveals the sort of man he is – a dipsomaniac who abandons his official duties on Monday morning to binge on whisky.

“This explains the reason for his hoarse voice, which is similar to that of a motor park tout. It is obvious that Governor Wike also dances under the influence of alcohol. No wonder it is characterised by aesthetic vulgarity.

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“It is a common rule that you do not drink and drive. Unfortunately, a drunkard is the one steering the wheel of governance in Rivers State. This is more disturbing because he is married to a judge. Indeed, the term, as sober as a judge, could not even rub off positively on the cantankerous governor.”

Shaibu said Wike’s vituperations and wailings had nothing to do with ensuring that the South produced the next president, stressing that the governor was “a sore loser” who deceived other members of the G5 who “are now battling for political survival”.

The aide of the former Vice President added: “Wike’s grouse with Waziri Atiku Abubakar has nothing to do with zoning. He is only wailing because he lost the presidential ticket of the PDP in a fair contest. After losing, he deceived four other governors to join his futile campaign.

“Three governors of the G5 failed woefully at their senatorial elections, including Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who, as a sitting governor, came a distant third in the Abia South senatorial election. For Governor Seyi Makinde, his ambition is hanging by a thread after his misadventure cost the PDP to lose all three senatorial elections.

“Wike has not held a single meeting with his G5 members, having dumped them since their defeat. He has been rejoicing over the outcome of the polls even though his men have all lost. This is the sort of man he is, and yet he claims not to be committing anti-party infractions.”

Shaibu further lashed out at Wike for admitting on video to have manipulated the outcome of the just concluded elections in Rivers State.

He, however, commended about 300,000 Nigerians who had signed a petition on Change.Org to demand that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union impose a visa ban on the governor.

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Atiku’s aide said: “At this point, I would love to commend the nearly 300,000 Nigerians who have signed the petition for Wike’s visa sanction. This is a step in the right direction. This is a man who in every election he has ever been involved in has been characterised by rigging and violence so much so that under his watch, the media tagged his state, ‘Rivers of Blood’.

“This is a man who, during a leaked phone conversation with Governor Ayodele Fayose, admitted to ‘killing everyone we can kill’. This is a man who talks down on traditional rulers in his state, arrests those he doesn’t agree with, seals off the buildings of his opponents, and even revokes C of O of those in his bad books. May Nigeria never see such an emperor again who uses violence to subdue his people for political gains.”

The Star