NIGERIA ELECTION: WAS NEVER AGAINST PETER OBI - NYESOM WIKE

Nyesom Wike

I never disagreed with Tinubu, and Peter Obi

The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has asserted that during the presidential campaign, he never challenged Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Wike claimed that he was in favor of the country's authority shifting from the north to the south, which is why he never challenged Tinubu or Obi.

The governor declared himself to be a "apostle" of the transfer of power to southern Nigeria.

He spoke at the opening of the Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Rivers State's Etche Local Government Area.

The governor emphasized that he owed no one an explanation for his support of the South's power rotation.

"Whether you voted for Labour, I have no problem with you. Whether you voted for APC, I have no problem with you. That is what we have argued for: that the north has had it for eight years. Therefore the south must be there for eight years.

"As far as I am concerned, anybody from the south, that is my position. That is what we agreed in the Integrity Group that we must make sure that the south emerges as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"Each time I went for a campaign, nobody has ever heard me criticise Obi. Nobody has ever heard me criticize Asiwaju. I owe nobody any apology that people voted for the southern presidency," he said.

Wike disregarded Atiku Abubakar, the PDP's presidential contender, prior to the 2023 presidential election.

The Integrity Group, led by Wike, had pushed for the North to South presidential transition.

The governor demanded that Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP's national chairman, step down and be replaced by a person from the South.

He stated that the PDP's national chairman and presidential candidate cannot be produced in the North.