Governor Wike made the demand at the inauguration of the Eastern Bypass Road in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
He said it was rather unfortunate that instead of seeking an appeal to the judgement of the court that had sacked him, Governor Umahi made a reckless statement attacking the judge.
‘Look at a governor making a reckless statement simply because a judge made a judgement according to his own opinion, which you are entitled to appeal up to Supreme Court,’ the Rivers governor stated.
‘You have called somebody a thief in the market and you’re saying I’m sorry. It is late. That your sorry, we, the members of the public, we don’t take it.’
Governor Wike said this was the first in Nigeria’s political history that the defection of a governor to another party was being contested in court.
He opined that the decision of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to challenge the defection of the governor and others elected on its platform should be seen as a clear example of what is required to strengthen democracy.
Governor Wike pointed out that it was members of the PDP who took Governor Umahi to court to demand the mandate of the party from him.
‘If our party has done this earlier when people were leaving in the National Assembly, we won’t have had the problem we are having today,’ he said.
‘That is one of the problems of party leadership. People cannot come out and take the bull by the horns. So, Governor Umahi, be rest assured that PDP will continue this matter down to Supreme Court. We will continue with the matter.’
The Rivers governor said it is no longer acceptable that someone would win an election and defect with the victory to another party for fear of escaping visitation of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
‘You carry the votes of another party and join another party. Can you transfer votes? You work hard for somebody to win an election and tomorrow the person says, “I have defected”.
‘If you have defected, leave the seat if you know it’s easy. And this will checkmate most of these political harlots who will never sit one place.’
