Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said that with the crisis rocking the People Democratic Party (PDP) at the moment, is only an affirmation to Nigerians not to trust them ahead of the 2023 elections.
Discussing with select media in Port Harcourt on Friday, the Rivers State governor was of the opinion that the pride which threatens the peace of the party at the moment, might soon be its albatross when Nigerians head to the polls next year.
“We have not won election we are too arrogant, we have not won election and we are telling Nigerians look you cannot trust us, we say one thing and we do a different thing,” Wike said.
Speaking on the issue threatening the peace within PDP, Wike said it is sad that no southerner occupies any of the three top positions within the party, stressing that it shows disregard for people from the southern parts of the country.
He stated that the seed of discord was planted when PDP discarded the zoning formula as inscribed in its controlled constitution which would have seen a Southern candidate emerge as presidential flagbearer.
Speaking on the way forward, Governor Wike emohasised that sacrifices must be made by people occupying prime positions in the party in order for PDP to win at the election.
“We sat there and he (Atiku) agreed with us that Ayu has to go, what was remaining, he said, we should give him one week. Let Gov. (Ahmadu) Finitiri, who is the governor of Adamawa State, let him tell Nigerians it is not correct.
“Let Governor Seyi (Makinde) tell Nigerians it is not correct. For us to have peace let us move on, let bygone be bygone. What is the problem?
“You are the presidential candidate, just give chairmanship to the South…. Within that one week, we didn’t hear from the presidential candidate again.
“If the presidential candidate respects us, what stops him from calling us and saying, ‘look, I have gone to look at this thing and the constitutional issues’?
“Even in that meeting, we told him to bring your lawyer, we will bring our lawyer let us sit down and work it out, but he never told us (no).
“All we now heard on TV was that there will be constitutional issues. We forgot that we have constitutional matters, that the constitution says we must zone, but now we have forgotten the constitution (and) now you are bringing constitutional matters,” Wike argued.
