Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said that he was charged with murder and armed robbery before he became a local government chairman in the state.
Wike disclosed this when speaking on his presidential ambition and the race for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket when he appeared on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Monday.
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The Rivers State governor became executive chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government Area in Rivers in 1999.
He said, “For reference purposes, I was the first local government chairman that the supreme court had to reaffirm to be a local government chairman. You have several interests in Rivers State: indigenous and outside.
“Before I became chairman, I passed through a lot of hurdles. I was charged with murder and armed robbery. It’s not something you think I just became a chairman of a local government. No, it’s not easy for me, but again I was being prepared for leadership.
“All these things were geared trying to stop me because they were all within the period of political electioneering. I was running for chairmanship when the murder and armed robbery cases came in. Then I said maybe God is preparing me for something. And by the glory of God I overcame all these.”
Wike added that he had never thought he would become a governor, saying it was not because he was a chief of staff in Rivers State that he was close to being the governor.
He said, “If you look at my antecedent, it had never been easy. For me to be chairman of a council, I had to go to supreme court, charged with murder and armed robbery for which I didn’t know anything about. Even to become a chief of staff is another problem.”
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