Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State yesterday punctured speculations that he and his allies in the Peoples Democratic Party’s G5 forum met with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu, this week in London, and struck a deal to support Tinubu against PDP’s Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 election.
On the same day, at a rally in Aboh, PDP’s vice-presidential candidate/Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa declared that his party would still win the 2023 presidential election, notwithstanding the scheming of the G5 Governors, led by Wike.The PDP G5 governors – Wike, Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Samuel Ortom (Benue) have been at loggerheads with the party and its presidential candidate, Atiku, insisting that they will not support him unless the party’s Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu is removed.Wike, who spoke on the alleged meeting and deal with Tinubu in London, while flagging-off the construction of Eneka-Igbo Etche road, said media outfits speculated and insinuated so many unfounded things without any pictorial or audio proof to affirm their claims that the G5 met with a presidential candidate in Europe.
The Rivers governor said: “I am not someone who will go and see somebody and hide. Hide for who? Who is that person that will threaten me? They said Wike had a deal with so, so, and so person. Meanwhile, no video, no anything. And some of you waste time listening to such things. Don’t you know when I want to do something, I do it? You don’t need to speculate.“They said we had a meeting with so and so. What is your problem? Assuming there was a meeting, has Atiku not been holding meetings with governors of APC? Ask him. As he is in Dubai, don’t we know what is going on? So, why do you bother about us G5, that you said you can win without us? Leave us alone.”
While acknowledging that he travelled out of the country, the Rivers governor also said the PDP shouldn’t be worried about him and his allies: “Just to unwind is a problem to some people. Some people say they have moved on, ‘don’t bother about G5’. Why is he bothered about where we go to or where we don’t go to? We go to a club, you’re worried. We go and sleep, you’re worried. Yet, you tell Nigerians you don’t bother. They say there is trouble. There is no trouble, what we have is the introduction to trouble that will come.”
The Rivers State governor who insisted that he is unperturbed about the threat of expulsion, however, wondered why those desiring to expel him are displaying anxiety instead of acting out their threat, and see if they will survive it. According to him, “when the time comes, we will know who has capacity and who does not have capacity.”Wike reiterated that the minimum demand of the members of the G5 is the resignation of Ayu as National Chairman of PDP to allow for a southerner to occupy the office.
“We have made our demand and our demand is that the National Chairman must come to the south. It’s non-negotiable. If you say you don’t care, no problem. Let’s go to the field. No need to begin to threaten people, you will do this, you will do that.”Governor Wike recalled how former President Olusegun Obasanjo knelt down to beg his then deputy, Atiku, to support his second term bid and the conditions the latter gave to him.
“You say we are giving conditions, but you forget history. When president Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to run for second tenure, he knelt down before his vice president and said ‘my vice please allow me to run.’ You know one of the conditions he gave him was that Tony Anenih must be sacked as the Minister of Works and that Anenih must not be in the presidential campaign council. Obasanjo obliged and sacked Anenih as Minister of Works and removed him from the presidential campaign council.”
Wike expressed surprise over the undying interest by those who said they had moved ahead and do not need the G5 group to win the 2023 election and wondered why those antagonistic to the G5 were always sniffing around to uncover any latest move made by the group.
