Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State had in Port Harcourt, expressed concerns that a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, may suspiciously be working for the All Progressives Congress (APC); not sincere to the PDP, but suspected to be plotting to destabilize the party towards 2023 general elections. Wike decried that while efforts are being made to rebuild the PDP to wrest power from the APC in 2023, he has fears that Dokpesi, coordinator of Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, is not sincere to the PDP, making unguided statements that will destabilize the party.
Wike had berated Dokpesi for raising false alarm that PDP governors traveled overseas to decide who should be the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 2023 general elections. The governor frowned at the statement, questioning why governors should embark on such expensive travel to make a decision that can easily be taken in any part of Nigeria.
Governor Wike had declared: “We are trying as much as we can to build the party back and see that in 2023 PDP takes over governance.
“But I have some suspicion that people like Raymond Dokpesi are not really sincere to the Peoples Democratic Party and I think, I’m convinced that Raymond Dokpesi appears to be working for APC.
“I don’t understand where Raymond Dokpesi gets this information, this rumour that governors travelled to Europe to decide who will be the presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate of PDP.
“I wonder why governors will travel to Europe to make such a decision.”
The governor cautioned High Chief Dokpesi that statements credited to him in recent times “will not help his political fortune and that of his preferred candidates like the former Vice President, Atiki Abubakar, who is thought to be preparing to contest the party’s ticket for 2023 Presidential Election.”
The governor cautioned that “an elder statesman should be making comments that will unite all components of the party and brighten its chances to rescue Nigeria in 2023.”
Wike enjoined former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, identified as a strategic politician, not to encourage Dokpesi “to be insulting Governors”.
Wike reminded Atiku that PDP Governors supported him in the previous presidential ambition, assuring that “they are willing to do the same if he picks the party’s ticket again.”
The governor vehemently admonished that the recent statement will be the last he will tolerate from Dokpesi, noting he is never opposed to Dokpesi canvassing support for Atiku.
Wike had declared: “I have told Raymond Dokpesi that there is nothing wrong with you preaching for the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri of Adamawa, a very experienced man, an intelligent man, a strategist. But don’t destroy other people because of this.
“Because when you destroy them, it will be difficult for the PDP to win the election in 2023.”
Governor Wike, therefore, admonished PDP members to desist from utterances that will vilify PDP governors, saying that governors will no longer tolerate such statements.
Wike also chided party members who claimed that the PDP Governors are supporting Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State to impose the governorship candidate of the party in Osun State.
Governor Wike noted that PDP Governors are only concerned about getting the right thing done in the party, notwithstanding the criticisms against them.
He decried the hatred for Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on the southwest, the only PDP Governor in the zone.