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Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, Monday taunted the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar over the endorsement of Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate for the presidency ahead of the PDP candidate.
Wike mocked Atiku that Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi instead of him (Atiku), despite the he (Atiku) was Obasanjo Vice from 1999-2007 spoke volumes on the personality of the former Vice President.
The governor took the occasion of the flag-off of the Akpabu- Odido Road at Itu Bridge Head, Emohua Local Government Area to demand that Atiku should leave him out of the attendant challenges he is facing in the PDP.
He stated that a bad product was always difficult to sell, otherwise, the former president would have recommended Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to Nigerians having worked together with him.
Wike insisted that if former president Obasanjo had refused to recommend Alhaji Atiku, then something must be fundamentally wrong.
He opined that Atiku should be more concerned about that loss of confidence from his former boss, and his coming election than trying to blame the G-5 group of governors were doing or not.
Wike also took a swipe against those accusing him and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State of frustrating the micro-zoning of the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to South-East.
He explained that he had always believed and supported concerted effort towards ensuring that the presidency was zoned to the south.
He said; “I was one of those who led the campaign that the party’s chairmanship should go to the North because I believed the presidency should go to the South.
“I attended meetings of southern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties from Delta to Lagos to Enugu states, where we agreed that presidency should come to the south.”
He insisted that while southern cross-party consultations were going on, there were people in the PDP who were bent on frustrating the eventual zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the South.
Such people, he maintained, could not now turn around to cast the blame on him and Governor Ortom to hide their scheme thinking they could deceive Nigerians.
Wike went on; “I woke up this morning and read where they said, how Wike and Ortom frustrated PDP’s micro-zoning of presidential ticket to South East. That was what the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku said
“I keep on saying, they’ll be contradicting themselves, telling lies up and down, thinking that Nigerians don’t know. How can they say that I influenced Ortom, told him to allow and throw the ticket open?
“Nigerians know those who are opposed to zoning of the party’s chairmanship first.
“And when the zoning committee was set up, this time, Atiku had gone to buy form to frustrate the recommendation of the zoning committee.
“So that when they have bought form, they could say, oh, there is no need of zoning, will you tell people to withdraw?”
The governor said it was rather note worthy that their gimmick is now hunting them because they were unfair to Nigerians.
“Yes, you don’t like Ortom, no problems. I know my own, you don’t like me, no problems. But I, my state gave you the highest support in 2019 both with logistics and by votes.
“You can’t deceive every Nigerians again. What I have stood for is equity, fairness and justice.
“So, saying that I and Ortom frustrated PDP micro-zoning to South East is nether here nor there. They know that they don’t want presidency to come to the South.
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