“Atiku Needs To Forget About 2023 Election And Think About Why Obasanjo Left Him For Peter Obi” – Governor Wike

Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike has stated that former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the upcoming election speaks volumes.

The governor said this at the official start of a road project in the state’s Emouha Local Government Area.

Wike continued, saying that it is always challenging to sell a bad product. He pointed out that the former president should have endorsed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar after working with him for 8 years, but he rather chose to support Peter Obi as the next president of Nigeria.

Governor Wike stated that something must be seriously wrong if former President Obasanjo declined to endorse Alhaji Atiku. He suggested that rather than worrying about the upcoming election, Alhaji Atiku should be more concerned about his former boss’s lack of trust in him.

The governor continued by slamming people who were blaming him and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for obstructing the micro zoning of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential ticket to the South-East.

Governor Wike stated that he had always supported coordinated efforts to make sure that the presidency was designated 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.”

Governor Wike claimed that even though there were cross-party conversations taking place in the South, there were PDP members who were determined to thwart the final allocation of the party’s presidential ticket to the region. Such people, he insisted, cannot now turn around and blame him and Governor Ortom in order to cover up their plot and fool Nigerians.

He said, “I woke up this morning and read where they said, how Wike and Ortom frustrated PDP’s micro-zoning of the presidential ticket to South East. That was what the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku said.

“I keep on saying, they will 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?”

Governor Wike said further, “Nigerians know those who are opposed to the 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 for zoning, will you tell people to withdraw?”

Governor Wike stated that it is noteworthy that their ruse is now hunting them since they were unjust to Nigerians.

He said, “Yes, you don’t like Ortom, no problem. 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 Nigerian again. What I have stood for are equity, fairness and justice.

“So, saying that I and Ortom frustrated PDP micro-zoning to South East is neither here nor there. They know that they don’t want the presidency to come to the South.”