Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Thursday, struck out any possibility of him and his allies reaching a last-minute deal with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Wike Dismisses Possibility Of Last-Minute Truce Between G5 Govs, Atiku
Nyesom Wike made his stand known at a media chat held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Wike is the leader of the G-5 group, a group of five PDP governors that is opposed to the presidential ambition of Atiku due to the refusal of the national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu to resign from office for a southerner to take over.
The group argued that both the presidential candidate of the party and its national chairman can not come from the same region (North).
Atiku hails from Adamawa – North East while Ayu comes from Benue – North Central.
The group, particularly Wike, has done everything possible to frustrate Atiku and his campaigns.
Wike, since he lost the PDP presidential ticket to Atiku at the party’s primary in May last year, has for months demanded Ayu’s resignation over what he termed “injustice” to southerners.
The five governors are Wike, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu, and Seyi Makinde of Rivers, Enugu, Benue, Abia, and Oyo states respectively.
Several attempts at reconciliation, in the past few months, have failed to yield desired results by some party stakeholders.
Wike while speaking at the media chat, said the timeframe for resolving the grievance of the G5 is “over” and he is “not ready to sit down with anybody again”.
“No, we can’t do that; it’s over! We have said it and there is nothing anybody can do about it now,” the governor said.
“They believe they can win the election. I am not ready to sit down with anybody again.”
According to Wike, he has informed the residents of Rivers of his preferred presidential candidate and that the people are ready to vote for the individual.
The governor however failed to mention the name of the candidate.
The presidential election is billed to hold on February 25.
Meanwhile, Kanyi Daily reported that the publisher of an online newspaper, Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, has predicted serious trouble for Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Rivers State, Godwin Emefiele and Nyesom Wike respectively if Bola Tinubu or Atiku Abubakar wins the forthcoming presidential election.