THE immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has revealed how he survived poisoning at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Abuja last December and major challenges he faced during his two terms in office.
Wike, who disclosed these while addressing a congregation at a special Thanksgiving Service at the St. Peters Deanery, Rumuepirikom in Obio-Akpor Local Council of the state on Sunday, June 18, organised by his family, also said he was in pains, as the poison affected his liver and kidneys and almost killed him, but for God’s intervention.
At the service, where President Bola Tinubu was represented by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and attended by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; deputy senate president, senators, members of the House of Representatives, former governors, former ministers, royal fathers, captains of industry, some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP and others, Wike said: “God was in charge, everybody who knew how we came to power in 2015, knew it was turbulent.
“But God saw us through. When you are in office, many people think things are going well with you. Nobody wants to find out the problems you are facing as a human.
“In December 2018, it was a day my former chief of staff was going to have Thanksgiving. I was to attend that Thanksgiving. From that Sunday, I never came down from my room. It was bad.
“But those who attended the January 1 state banquet of 2019 will know that I never spoke that day; I just sat down there and told the deputy governor to speak on my behalf. I thought it was over.”
He explained his condition became critical and so he had to be flown to a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, at midnight, where doctors, after running series of tests, told him that his liver and kidney were no longer functioning.
“I didn’t know I had been poisoned at our party’s secretariat,” he told the crowd at the service, adding that the doctors battled to keep him alive before he was discharged after about one week and asked him to return home in a period that coincided with his second term campaigns.
The former governor also disclosed that his wife called him during his presidential primary campaign and told him she had been diagnosed of cancer, saying he had to put a call across to leaders of his campaign team, including the G-5 governors, indicating his plan to quit the race.
That decision, he stated, changed when his wife urged him on, saying all would be well. He noted: “Being a strong woman, my wife never showed it. But today, my wife is hale and hearty. The cancer incident was the one I knew that God had done all for me.”
Wike said he kept most of the incidents secret to avoid frightening his supporters, stating that he decided to thank God for allowing a peaceful transition in Rivers State and granting him victories in all the elections held in the state.
Wike also thanked all members of the G-5, which later became Integrity Group, for their roles during the presidential election.
