I Would Have Won PDP Primary If it Weren’t Manipulated

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, yesterday, said he would have won the May 28 presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if the process had not been manipulated. Wike said this when his political associates and Rivers elders, led by the chairman, Rivers Elders Council, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, visited to felicitate with him on his 55th birthday.

The governor said he was proud of the impact Rivers State was able to make during the presidential primary in Abuja. But he insisted that there was no rift between him and the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Notwithstanding, Atiku, his running mate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and PDP governors congratulated Wike on his 55th birthday.

The Rivers State governor reiterated that the crisis in PDP had to do with the demand from the southern stakeholders that the national chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from Benue State in the North-central, should relinquish his position, since the presidential candidate was from the same region. He maintained that the demand that the north should relinquish the position of national chairman to the south remained a panacea to the problems rocking the party.

Wike recalled that last year, the Rivers elders had urged him to contest for the office of the president of Nigeria. He said he heeded the advice and almost clinched the PDP presidential ticket, but for the manipulation of the process.

The governor stated, “I don’t regret I ran for presidency. In the name of God, I am happy to make Rivers State proud. I am happy, as far I am concerned. If they had allowed it to be what it is supposed to be, I would have won the election. But it’s okay. It has happened.

“People said because I lost election, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t lose election. This is my first time of trying to run for the president of Nigeria and we made impact. If it is easy, let them go ahead. Are they not the ones begging?

“I have no problem with the presidential candidate. All I am saying is, what is the interest of Rivers people? What is the interest of the South-south, and the South?”

He said the reason some of his Ikwerre kinsmen, like Celestine Omehia and former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Austin Opara, were begrudging him was his insistence that it would be morally offensive for an Ikwerre man to succeed him or even emerge as PDP candidate for Rivers East senatorial district.

Wike explained, “I called Austin (Opara), he sat here and I said, ‘look my, brother, leave it, it will not work.’

“I don’t want to cause crisis in our system. Amaechi finished eight years as governor, I’m going to finish eight years as governor, too. It will be difficult to sell another Ikwerre person as governor for another eight years. Omehia said he wants to go to the Senate, I said leave it. Ikwerre has gone, Ogu has gone, leave Etche to go.

“You people said I should go (to Senate), I said I won’t. Allwell (Onyesoh) could not have stopped me. Yes, today we are majority; you don’t know what tomorrow will be. I never did anything to undermine anybody. We must understand that.”

Wike described as sheer hypocrisy the allegation that he foisted the Rivers State PDP governorship candidate, Sim Fubara, on the party. He said Fubara’s emergence was a collective decision reached after those who had indicated interest to succeed him failed to reach a consensus to produce one candidate.

He said, “When O.C.J Okocha comes back, we will publish the agreement signed by all.”

The governor urged PDP leaders to remain steadfast and focused, saying the sterling performance and transformational leadership provided by his administration since 2015 would help the party to win the 2023 election with ease.