Wike Slams Southern PDP Governors for Ganging Up against Him
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday reflected on his outing at Sunday’s presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and blamed his southern colleagues for masterminding his failure to win the ticket, saying they ganged up against him with some vested interests to derail the quest for a southern president.
He stated that the effort he put up to clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket sent a strong message to the north, stressing that never again would anyone underestimate the capacity of the south to secure the country’s presidency.
The governor, who was treated to a grand reception by PDP leaders and members in Port Harcourt, said he told the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, that many of the people around him had no electoral value to deliver their states, but vowed to deliver PDP in 2023.
But Wike, who spoke extensively on what happened at the convention on Saturday, said it was disheartening that some governors from the south could jettison the collective interest of the people they claimed to represent due to their inordinate ambitions. He added that it was the agreement by the southern governors that the presidency should come to the south that motivated his presidential aspiration.
The Rivers governor described as shameful the inability of some of those, who were part of the agreement, to stick to the deal when it mattered, accusing them of betrayal.
Wike stated, “I contested in an election (primary) based on the principle and agreement with all southern governors and leaders of the south that the presidency should go to the south this period.
“We have done our part. We never betrayed anybody, because it is not in our blood to betray. But it is a shame to those people, some of the governors from the south; they were the people used to sabotage our course.
“Look at, a region ganged up, then you, your own region cannot gang up. You became tools to be used against the interest of your people, and you think you have won? You have lost! You will continue to be perpetual slaves. Rivers people, you don’t need to bother yourselves. PDP needs us. If they say they don’t need us, they should wait.”
Wike explained that his motivation in the presidential race was to offer service and advance the interest of Nigeria.
He said, “The winner (of the ticket) also saw it. They underrated us, but now, they will not underrate us again. We have all it takes to do whatever we want to do. It is a matter of you being firm; it is a matter of you being hopeful. There is nobody that is born greater than us in this country; therefore, we cannot answer second-class citizens. We can’t.
“We just used this one to tell them that enough is enough. We made them not to sleep. We made them not to eat. We made all of them from wherever they said they came from to know that there is somebody, who can take them on. This country does not belong to one particular zone. If people are afraid of talking, it is their business. I cannot be a second-class citizen in my country.
“Some of them, their in-laws are governors in the ruling party, but they want to interfere in what happens in PDP. Some of them their brothers are governors in the ruling party and they want to interfere in PDP.”
However, Wike said with the presidential primary over, and given his pledge to work for whoever emerged PDP ticket holder, Rivers State would work to deliver PDP and all its candidates in the 2023 general election.
He recalled that in 2019, despite the failure of the presidential candidate he supported to clinch the ticket, Rivers State gave PDP massive votes and refused to negotiate with the All Progressives Congress (PDP) to give them 25 per cent of the votes.
Wike said, “In 2019, I was the only governor from the South-south, who never negotiated with the present government. They came, I said no, I was not going to be party to that. And that is why APC never had 25 per cent in this state.
“But in all the other states in the South-south, the president got 35 per cent to 40 per cent. I said I was not going to sit down with them and negotiate.”
The governor said he had told Atiku that many of those hanging around him did not have electoral value, advising all members – whether in the north or south – to deliver the kind of votes Rivers State would deliver in the 2023 general election in order for PDP to win the presidency.
He also said it was wrong for the party to have allowed the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, to speak for a second time after the time allotted to each of the aspirants to address the delegates.
Some, however, believed Tambuwal’s withdrawal from the race was actually a smart move, which had no defining effect on the emergence of Atiku.
Atiku continued with the reconciliation process on Monday, when he visited his closest rivals, Wike, Saraki, and Anyim.
During his visit to Wike, the former vice president was accompanied by National Vice Chairman of PDP, Dan Orbih; former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Waziri; and former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, among others.
A source privy to the meeting said Atiku pleaded with Wike to work with him for the purpose of rescuing the country, regardless of the outcome of the primary, which saw Wike polling 237 votes to come second.
“In continuation of my commitment to bring everyone on board in ensuring that the PDP stands as one united party, earlier today, I visited His Excellency, Governor Nyseom Wike, at his Abuja residence. This is a continuous process,” Atiku said.
