Lamido slams Wike over distractions in PDP

A renowned statesman and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, has slammed Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State over the distractions in the PDP in the preparations for the 2023 general elections. The former Jigawa governor berated the Rivers governor that he does not have monopoly over the electorate in Rivers, noting that Wike would become politically relevant at the end of his tenure in 2023.

Governor Wike has been antagonistic against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the leadership, including the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections since he lost the party’s presidential ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Wike subsequently lost the vice-presidential ticket to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State. Wike had threatened the PDP with the 3.2 million votes in Rivers State and over 600,000 votes in Obior/Akpor, his local government area.

Former Governor Lamido in a media interaction was of the view that Wike does not monoolise the votes in the state simply because he is governor.

Lamido had stated: “Wike is an individual, I don’t think because he is a governor there, he has control and monopoly over the peoples of Rivers.

“Right now, if you go to Rivers, there were 13 governorship aspirants for the governorship candidate in Rivers State, it was Wike who imposed the current candidate.

“The others are there complaining and screaming. I saw him on TV talking the other day, he was very bombastic. He was saying that he would not allow this and that.

“In the next eight months, he will become a political destitute like me.

“Wike is an individual. I don’t think because he is a governor, then he has the monopoly and control over Rivers. He does not have it. He is always speaking because he is a bluff. The people of Rivers State are in PDP in their own right.

“Because he is now a governor, he can appropriate sovereignty and become an emperor because he is a governor. It cannot work. There is a Wike in every part of the country. Leave Wike alone, he can give order to Rivers’ people if they are enslaved to him. If they are his slave— fair enough, he is their emperor, let him give orders.”