Wike blames Atiku, Tambuwal, Saraki for causing PDP’s problem

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, has made a broadside at the trio of Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, and Governor Aminu Tambuwal without mentioning their names.

Wike says the three presidential aspirants contributed to PDP’s woe in 2015 and equally abandoned the party.

“Those who want to be president now were the problems of the party in 2015,” said the governor.

“They ran away when the party needed them most,” Wike said while declaring his intent to equally seek the presidency in 2023.

The Rivers governor was speaking in Benue State, avowing he had what it required to lead the country.

“If you’re running in an election, power isn’t given for free; it is taken. I have come out and I’m going to take this power from APC back to PDP by the grace of God,” he said.

“God has given us what it takes. That’s why God is making APC to make mistakes everyday and that is how you know that God is with you.

“Let me thank the people of Benue for receiving me to come and talk to them. I am declaring for the first time in Benue state because of my special relationship with them. People are merely not suspecting, but let it be known today that I am announcing it in Benue state because I have a special relationship with this state.

“Today, you can’t talk about security in this country, and you must understand that without security, you can’t talk about governance.

One first thing that anybody who takes oath of office is sworn to, is that you must protect life and property. If you can’t protect life and property, then you can’t talk about governance. So, that major thing is that our people should be alive.”

“Nobody can bring investment in this country because there is no respect for the rule of law. Nobody obeys court order. Who will come and invest his money when court gives its judgment and it will not be obeyed. So, I am going to run for election and victory will be ours,” he added.

Wike, who said he has what it takes to win the election, said he had stood with the PDP when many members “ran away”.

Wike said while his fellow aspirants abandoned the party, he stood firmly behind it.

“But I have stood and worked for this party. I have nowhere to run to because I take it personally that the party should not die. And I challenge anyone to a debate on what they did for PDP.”

The opposition party has been faced with calls from within and outside its fold to zone its presidential ticket to the southern part of the country. However, three of its presidential aspirants are from the northern part of Nigeria. They are Atiku, Saraki, and Tambuwal.

With Governor Wike’s declaration, southern candidates bidding for the presidency increased to four.

Other southern aspirants are Pius Ayim Pius, a former Senate president; Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, and Dele Momodu, a journalist.