Why Wike may vote for Tinubu while in PDP, sustains protest against Atiku

Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State at the 114th quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, on Monday, made an innuendo why he may vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February elections but will not defect to the party. Wike told the traditional rulers that he will vote for only the candidate that can guarantee the unity of the country.

The Rivers State governor highlighted: “I am not a member of APC and I will not be. But they have made me to recognise that they are the heroes of this country.

“The governors came out to say, look, for the unity of this country, presidency should go to the south. “The governors of APC said the way the country is, they want the unity of this country and, therefore, the presidency should go to the south.

“They could have as well said no, it doesn’t matter. As governors we have the number. We can still say it should remain where it should remain. But they didn’t do that. They said the way we are seeing this country; we want everybody to be together.

“Let no one say because I have the population, therefore, you will continue to dominate. In dominating, you need peace, without peace you cannot govern.”

Governor Wike was of the view that Rivers State has helped to sustain the PDP from the time of former Governor Peter Odili to his administration. Wike argued that it is absolutely wrong for a section of the country to deny other people the opportunity to participate in presiding over the affair of the nation.

According to Wike, “we are all Nigerians and we want the unity of this country. We want Nigeria to move forward as a united country. Rivers State has always been in support of one Nigeria and we will continue to support one Nigeria. But in doing that, we believe in equity, we believe in justice, we believe in fairness. As the governor of this State, I will vote for the unity of this country. I will vote for anything that will unite Nigeria.

“I will not support anything that will divide Nigeria. And that is what necessitated the principle of live and let’s live. If only one person continues to live, things will not be good. It’s not about party, it is about Nigeria. I am a member of Peoples Democratic Party, unrepentant member, who in fact, built this party when people ran away.”

Wike maintained that a strategic State like Rivers, cannot be relegated to play second fiddle in the country.

The governor appealed to traditional rulers to support the PDP governorship candidate, Siminialayi Fubara, as he formally presented him to the council of traditional rulers, emphasising the need for continuity of developmental stride of his administration since 2015.

“In the next few months, I will be former. But former in a big way. My transition will be smooth, there will be no crisis. Don’t make mistake to go and vote for another person. You want to distort everything we have done, and then our state will go backward. Let’s allow continuity,” Wike said.

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