'Reasons why I dumped PDP and defected to APC' - Wike’s ex-Media Adviser

The immediate past Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, yesterday in Port Harcourt stated that he decided to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on account of the love shown him by APC leaders when he recently escaped assassins’ bullets in the state and took ill afterwards.

Inko-Tariah, who is publisher of the Port Harcourt-based Hard Truth newspaper, disclosed that former Rivers governor and now Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Rivers APC’s governorship candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside; and an ex-Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority, Ade Adeogun, all APC leaders, cared for and assisted him in his trying period, when Wike, of the PDP, abandoned him.


In defecting to the APC, he noted that it was natural for him to reciprocate the kind gesture of leaders of the party, thereby supporting Peterside to emerge as Rivers’ next governor in 2016.

The former media adviser stressed that although he criticised Amaechi in the past, it was reinvigorating to note that the transportation minister called to sympathise with him and gave his widow’s mite.

Inko-Tariah declared that to reciprocate Amaechi’s gesture, he would do his best to ensure that Peterside emerge as governor of the state in the event of a rerun.

He said: “It was surprising that a man I censured, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, CON, the Hon. Minister of Transportation, was the same person who showed unsolicited love and care.

“It was reinvigorating when he called to sympathise and also gave his widow’s mite, while I was already in the United States for medical treatment, after reading my resignation letter. How compassionate can a man be!

“On my support for Hon. (Dr.) Dakuku Peterside, it is only natural that one reciprocates gestures. Therefore, I state my support for Rt. Hon. Amaechi and Dr Peterside for the love they have shown.

“Moreso, Dr Peterside is a man whose refreshing initiatives and articulated policy options will help refuel the ethos of good governance in Rivers State.”

Inko-Tariah, while giving further insight into his reason for resigning from Wike’s government, noted that he sustained head injuries from falling in a bathroom, after earlier escaping assassination, declaring that the Rivers governor did not show concern for his plight.