With sights on the presidency in 2023, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has started meeting governors of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in what has been described as a consultative move towards his 2023 presidential ambition.
Port Harcourt Spectator reports that even though Wike has not openly declared his ambition, but he has already met with governors of Bayelsa, Sokoto, Abia, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Oyo states in the last 12 days of the new year where he insisted on the need to rescue and renew Nigeria.
Renew Nigeria was a popular slogan chanted by supporters of the Rivers State governor at the just held PDP national convention.
Wike particularly while meeting with his Oyo state counterpart, Seyi Makinde said God will not forgive the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), if it fails to rescue Nigerians from socio-economic hardship inflicted on them by the All Progressives Congress (APC), led Federal Government.
The governor insisted that for the PDP to actualise the sacred objective of rescuing Nigeria from poor governance that has characterised the APC led administration, all PDP governors must be united.
The Rivers State governor explained that he was in the Oyo State capital to formally appreciate Makinde, who was the secretary of the PDP convention planning committee for producing what has been acclaimed by Nigerians and the diplomatic community as the best convention in the history of the party.
He observed that having successfully produced a new national leadership of the party, the governors and other members of the party must remain united in order to form a formidable team to dislodge the APC from power in 2023.
“It is important for us as a party to unite, because Nigerians are waiting for PDP. We cannot afford to lose this opportunity, and the key for that is that the governors must be united and must support the party. It does not matter who will be the presidential candidate. If the party is united, the governors are united, I can tell you that victory will be ours.”
Wike said millions of Nigerians are languishing in abject poverty due to the harsh socio-economic policies of the APC-led Federal Government.
To this end, he said Nigerians are desperately looking up to the PDP to emancipate them.
“We must sit down as a party and take the best decision that will make Nigerians to be happy, that will make us to win election. Anything we are doing that will not make us win election, then there is no basis for it because we still want Nigerians to suffer. Nigerians cannot continue to suffer. They have suffered enough in the hands of APC and God will not forgive PDP if we don’t rescue Nigeria.”
Wike urged those who are fanning the embers of discord over the issue of zoning to desist from distracting the party.
According to him, at the appropriate time various stakeholders will meet and decide on a presidential candidate that can win election for the PDP.
The governor urged all stakeholders in the party to be prepared to support whoever the party will present as its presidential candidate for the 2023 election.
He emphasised that Nigerians cannot afford to continue to suffer under the sadistic APC-led administration.
Governor Wike used the occasion to also commiserate with Governor Makinde and people of Oyo State over the demise of the Olubadan, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji. He prayed God to grant his Oyo State counterpart the wisdom and courage to navigate through the succession process of getting a new Olubadan.
“God will give you the wisdom to get a new Olubadan that will help you to pilot the affairs of Oyo state and Ibadan in particular.”
In his response, Governor Makinde noted that the nearly seven years reign of the APC led federal government has been a disaster nationally. He lamented that the Nigerian economy that was growing from five to six percent suddenly became stalled due to clueless policies of the government.
“We went into recession, came out of it. We thought that was over, we went back into recession again. And the population is growing in an alarming rate.”
Regarding the PDP presidential candidate, he said those aspiring for the office of the president should not be seeking power for the sake wanting to be in power, but for the sake of making the country prosperous.
Governor Makinde applauded Governor Wike for identifying with the government and people of Oyo State over the death of Olubadan.
