Being an extempore speech by Dr. Dakuku Peterside, 2015 Rivers’ All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate, and former Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022
My dear Rivers People, and especially members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC,
I want to thank you all for coming out in your numbers, in solidarity, to welcome me home. I truly appreciate your support over the years. I will never take your loyalty to our shared vision for granted.
2. A lot has happened in the last couple of days. There have been a myriad of actions and reactions and many of you have been troubled.
3. Most of you who know me, and I believe the majority have followed my decisions in the past, acknowledge the fact that the greater interest of Rivers State will always guide my actions. It has never been about myself or my ambition. But had always been Rivers, first.
4. I am a team player and a product of the moral, material and spiritual contributions of family and friends. Conscious of the place of history and posterity in political choices, I have come back to the people to consult since it is the people who gave me impetus to aspire in the first place.
5. This is a critical phase in my aspiration because I know that I carry the dreams and aspirations of many with me. One thing I can assure you is that I will act with the best interest of our party, our state and our nation, at heart. It will not be about my personal ambition.
7. May God bless Rivers State.