Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has stated clearly that nobody can undermine the interest of the South in deciding who emerges as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 Presidential election.
Wike, who spoke at the Government House in Rivers State during a meeting of stakeholders of the PDP on Tuesday, dismissed anyone who claim they are consulting stakeholders across the country to declare their interest in the race. He said the south would make a bold statement on their position at the appropriate time.
In his own words, Wike said:
“Please, discountenance anything you’re seeing and hearing.; all those social media posts. The South will make a statement very soon. It is not about you’ll be vice president to this or these people are consulting. The day the south makes a statement Nigerians will know that we are not joking.
“It’s not to come out to say you’re consulting. You’re consulting, yet, you’ve declared. Is it not after a consultation that you declare? You’ve already declared and you say you’re consulting. What are you consulting again then? And people take the South for granted saying that they are not together. No problems. If we don’t know yesterday, today we know.”
“We are assets. We are not liability. When we say we are going to support the party we support the party with everything we have. We are not in America where you do television campaigns.
“When we come out, we will choke them. They know it. So, everybody should relax, let the south do their homework, and then they’ll make a proper statement”, he added.
Wike explained that since PDP remained an opposition party every member should forge unity within the party, build greater team spirit and protect it from those planning to sow seeds of discord.
He said: “What is necessary is how the party must be cohesive. To make sure that the party gets it right. Then when you threaten that it must be north then you’re not trying to make peace or when you threaten you must be south you’re not trying to make peace. It’s a matter of sitting down and understanding; look at this and that. That is the way it’s supposed to be.
“Forget about Chief Dokpesi. With all due respect, Dokpesi is one of the people trying to destroy the party, which is not good. If we follow the kind of statements that Dokpesi is making every day, by now the party would have been destroyed. But we said no.”