Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State claims he has no regrets over pledging “logistics assistance” for Peter Obi’s bid for president of the Labour Party (LP) in the state.
At a dinner the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) hosted in Rivers on Friday evening for the PDP G5 governors who will be in Port Harcourt on Saturday for the party’s state-level campaign flag-off, Wike made this statement.
The Nkpolu-Oroworokwo Flyover in Port Harcourt, the state capital, was inaugurated by Obi, who received the commitment from the Rivers governor on Thursday.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, has all the qualities necessary to lead Nigeria, according to Wike, a PDP leader.
Since then, the Rivers governor has been under fire from certain quarters for endorsing Obi over Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of his party.
Nevertheless, Wike stated on Friday night, “They claimed I said I’m supporting Obi, I have no regret to say: Obi is a former governor, and if he is coming to Rivers State to the campaign, I would provide him logistics assistance and security.
“A previous governor? Should I say that I won’t give him a car? I won’t provide him with security. I can’t do that; I have to assist him with logistics.
However, the former minister claimed that in the state’s next elections, the Labour Party cannot win any seats.
In addition, Wike challenged his Niger Delta peers to account for the enormous sums of money they had received as a backlog for the 13% oil derivation since 1999, which President Muhammadu Buhari had approved and paid.
The governor explained to those in attendance at the event that while he can provide evidence for the initiatives his administration has carried out using funds from Rivers, some of his colleagues are unable to do so.
To support Atiku, Wike and four other PDP members have been requesting for months that Iyorchia Ayu quit her position as PDP national chairperson.
It is unclear if Wike and his friends will back Obi or Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the fight for Aso Rock’s top post, which experts and sharp watchers have described as a three-horse race, even though they have not been seen to endorse Atiku.
