By Our Correspondent
Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike, has told Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates in Bayelsa State to reward his loyalty to former President Goodluck Jonathan by voting for him at the forthcoming presidential primary of the party.
Wike, who met the delegates at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa, insisted that he stood firm with Jonathan and remained loyal to him.
The Governor in a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said he was handing himself over to Bayelsa people to consider him as their son, who required their support to clinch the PDP presidential ticket.
Wike described himself as complete PDP member, who had never left the party saying he remained the only courageous and fearless person capable of confronting the APC in the 2023 presidential election.
The Governor, who is a PDP presidential aspirant, expressed regret that the APC-led Federal Government had been unable to crush activities of bandits in parts of the country.
He, however, reiterated that bandits would naturally run away when they knew that he had emerged the next president of Nigeria.
Wike took a swipe against some APC presidential aspirants promising to consolidate on the achievements of Buhari.
He said Nigerians were under the yoke of APC maladministration with intractable insecurity situation that had crippled the economy and increased hunger.
Wike said the country must be freed from the festering insecurity, hunger, poverty and dwindling economic fortunes of Nigeria and its people.He said: “It is most unfortunate when I hear people declaring (intention to be president) under APC and saying they want to continue the good job of Mr President. The good job of people dying everyday, the good job of Naira falling everyday.
“I feel so ashamed that we have gotten to the level of sycophancy where people will come and say I want to continue the good job of Buhari. What is the good job of Buhari? Of hunger, poverty, insecurity, economy falling?
“I can’t believe that somebody will come out in today’s Nigeria and say I want to continue where Mr Buhari has stopped. May God never allowed that evil to continue.”
The Governor urged his Bayelsa State counterpart to support his presidential bid because he was contesting on behalf of the two sister states.
Wike said he understood the peculiar problems of the the two states, the Niger Delta region and was in a position to sufficiently address them as president of Nigeria.
In his response, Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri noted that PDP constitution provided for the rotation of the position of presidential candidate between the North and South.
He reiterated that it was expedient that such rotation was enforced within the principle of fairness, justice and fair play.
Diri described Wike as a homegrown politician, who understood the contending issues both in the South-South region, and Nigeria as a whole.
He said: “The challenges of the South South, the challenges of the Niger Delta, the challenges of Rivers and Bayelsa, you have worn the shoe, and it is only those who wear the shoe that knows where it is pinching. And so, there is no other aspirant that understands our challenges and problems other than you.
“You could have as well say this is our state I don’t need to come and campaign in Bayelsa, I don’t even need to come and see the delegates in Bayelsa, my brother governor is there, he will do it for me. And if you had called me on phone, I would have said don’t come, stay back in Port Harcourt we will do it for you.”
He noted the need for a courageous leader like governor Wike to reverse the top-bottom administrative modus operandi of APC that had plunged Nigeria into dire economic situation.
Diri assured his brother governor that the people of Bayelsa State would support him to actualise his presidential ambition.
Former Gombe Governor Hassan Dakwambo said Wike required their support to actualise his presidential bid.
“Wike is not only one of their own, but a trusted, tested leader who is psychologically prepared, and has the courage to provide the needed leadership that Nigeria yearns for”, he said.
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