Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says he will withdraw from the presidential race if the People Democratic Party zones the presidential ticket to the North.
The PDP recently inaugurated a 37-member committee to come up with a zoning arrangement for the party.
Speaking on a Channels TV on Monday Governor Wike said he will “abide” by whatever position the party takes on the zoning arrangement.
He, however, said he detest the suggestions that zoning should be jettisoned by the PDP.
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The Governor said the position of the party’s constitution in “Section 7 sub-section 3c” is clear on the rotation of the presidential office.
He noted that members of the party should be able to say the truth.
He said “People should be sincere and abide to the norms of the constitution.
“It doesn’t matter because you believe that this is my time I will win let us jettison every other arrangement”.
Governor Wike, however, said he is not running for the presidential office not on the principle of zoning but because of his “competence.”
The governor also noted that it is unfair to say the southern candidate cannot win the presidential election in 2023.
Meanwhile, Wike, Sunday, came out of the shadows to declare for the presidency, saying he has the capacity to win the 2023 presidential election for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This came days after former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, declared his presidential ambition, joining former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, ex-Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed in the race to fly the flag of the main opposition party’s ticket next year.
Wike made the declaration during a consultative meeting with stakeholders of the Benue chapter of the PDP at the Government House in Makurdi. The governor, who intimated stakeholders about his intention to run for the nation’s number one office, solicited for Benue PDP votes in the coming national delegates convention of the party, even as he stressed on zoning.
“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 everyday. I’m declaring it (presidential ambition) for the first time in Benue. I’m going to run for election,” Wike said.
Wike, who addressed the party delegates, said that most of the presidential aspirants from the party were responsible for PDP’s defeat in 2015.
Apparently taking a dig at Atiku and Saraki, Wike added that some of the aspirants left the party when it mattered most, noting that those founding fathers who ran away from the party and still wanted to be so recognised have lost their shares.”
He said: “Let these people who are interested in presidency in the PDP tell us their contributions. You claimed to be one of the founding fathers of the party, but you left and came back; you have become an ordinary person in the new PDP.
“If you form a company and run away because the company is not doing well, then you come back and found that it is now doing well, will you want to come and take over?
He, therefore, warned stakeholders not to sell their votes, but give it to him, adding that some of the party’s presidential aspirants were only after power for personal gains.
He said: “By the time you ran away, you sold your share as founding fathers, so, you can no longer retain your position of founding fathers. I stood for this party. I worked 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 private sector – let them mention the private business that had survived.
“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.”
Wike said he had stood firm for the party through thick and thin, adding that he had contributed immensely to the growth of the party.
“I have spoken truth to power. I don’t have problem with anybody but have to tell them the truth. Dave Umahi and others abused me because I told him that you cannot take our mandate away.
“As a governor, I have performed well. I can go anywhere with my shoulder high. How many of them have challenged this government (APC)?”
Governor Samuel Ortom, who hosted him, prayed God to grant Wike his desire to rule the country. Ortom recalled that his Rivers counterpart had never turned his back on Benue, especially in caring for the teeming displaced people occasioned by herders’ invasions in some parts of the state. “On southern presidency I stand,” Ortom said.
“Periodically, you have been helping us, particularly during the 2018 herdsmen crisis in the state. We will support your aspiration because you have sown seed and you need to reap,” he said.
