- Declares for presidency; blames returnee aspirants for PDP’s woes
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike says has boasted of his capacity to win the 2023 presidential election for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and permanently condemn the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the dustbin of political history.
Formally joining the fray to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari come 2023, Governor Wike said; “It is obvious I am going to run for the presidency of this country. I am declaring for the first time in Benue state because of my special relationship with them.
“People are now suspecting, but let it be known today that I am announcing it in Benue because I have a special relationship with this state.”
The outspoken Rives state Chief Executive told PDP stakeholders gathering in Makurdi, the Benue state capital on Sunday that as Nigeria’s next President, he will frontally address the unabated security challenges and engender rule of law in the country.
He said under his presidency, the Service Chiefs and Heads of security agencies would be availed requisite equipment and incentives to discharge their constitutional obligations with defined timelines to tackle lingering insecurity with no room for excuses.
The Governor, while condemning the weekend’s terrorist attack on Kaduna International Airport, said Nigerians urgently need a leader who can address the growing insecurity in the country, saying; “Today, you can’t talk about security in this country and you understand that without security you can’t talk about governance.
“One first thing anybody who takes an oath of office swears 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 the major thing is that our people should be alive.”
In soliciting the Benue PDP votes at the forthcoming national delegates convention of the nation’s opposition party, Governor Wike, who stressed the need to respect the PDP’s zoning arrangement, said; “To remove APC from power, I’m the person who can tell them enough is enough. We must take this power and I’m ready to take it for PDP. God is with us that’s why APC keeps failing every day.”
He however cautioned PDP stakeholders against selling their votes, noting that some of the PDP presidential aspirants now gallivanting around the country were only after the power for personal gains rather than the overall good of Nigeria and its people.
The Presidential aspirant blamed those who once left the party and are now back to seek positions for PDP’s woes and defeat in the 2015 general elections, insisting that those founding fathers that abandoned the ship but have returned in droves cannot forcefully demand recognition and honestly lay claims to their lost shares in the party.
“By the time you ran away, you sold your shares as a founding father. So, you can no longer retain your position as founding father. I stood for this party. I work for this party since 1998. I have nowhere to run to and that’s why anything that happens to this party, I take it personally. I have never relented.
“In 2015, those who ran away made us lose the election. Today, they are crying but some of us stood and said PDP will not die. Some people want to use Nigeria to buy back their personal business. They talk about the private sector – let them mention the private business that had survived. Is it banks that your father had? Everybody is an employer of labour even in my house I have 50 people who feed on me. They should stop deceiving us.
“I have performed as a governor and can carry my shoulders high anywhere. I have the capacity to face this evil government, give me the mandate. I will speak the truth to power and nothing but the truth. I have the capacity to move this country forward.”
Furthermore, Governor Wike said the leadership’s lack of respect for the rule of law is largely responsible for the country’s inability to attract Direct Foreign Investment (DFI), adding; “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 the court gives its judgment and it will not be obeyed. So, I am going to run for election and victory will be ours.”
In his remarks, Governor Samuel Ortom appreciated his Rivers State counterpart for the bold step and prayed that God will grant his desire to rule the country.
Recalling that Governor Wike has never turned his back on Benue people and the government, especially in assisting those displaced by killer herdmen’s attacks in parts of the state, Governor Ortom confirmed his position on zoning saying; “On southern presidency, I stand”
