…PDP kicks as APC claims talks with Rivers governor
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike on Tuesday heaped praises on his Lagos counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Speaking at a women’s conference in Lagos, Wike said the Lagos Governor has raised the standard of governance with the quality of projects being delivered across the state.
His comments appeared to be an endorsement of Sanwo-Olu, an APC Governor, ahead of the 2023 elections.
Mr Wike is a chieftain of the opposition, the PDP.
“If Sanwo-Olu is not doing (well), even if he belongs to my party, I will not come here,” Wike said. “If you belong to my party and you are not doing well in governance, you won’t see me. If you don’t belong to my party and you are doing well, you will see me. Good governance is what I stand for. I will not regret to say that I am in support of you (Sanwo-Olu) for second term. Others should not waste their time.
“Look at the kind of project coming from this women’s group. Why would any reasonable person not support the Government that is encouraging this. Let’s also look at the kind of physical infrastructure being delivered in Lagos. This confirms Lagos as a State of excellence. There are some people who will come here; instead of them to continue to make Lagos improve, they will bring Lagos down. For me, I’m satisfied with what Sanwo-Olu has done and it doesn’t matter the party he belongs.”
Sanwo-Olu responded to Wike’s endorsement, describing it as another example of “politics without bitterness”. He said Lagos and Rivers states had learnt from each other in terms of projects and development, adding that both states would continue to cooperate on shared interest.
He said: “There is no better person that is fit as a guest speaker at the conference other than the hardworking Governor Wike of Rivers State. We brought him here to share in his experience and also for him to see what we are doing in Lagos.
“We are encouraging collaboration without bitterness and without talking about our parties or political differences. If you are doing well, it doesn’t matter where you belong. We should encourage peer review across parties. Gov. Wike had invited me to Rivers for projects commissioning in the past. We have challenged ourselves in a positive way; this is good for the growth of our politics and the nation.”
Governor Wike also spoke about the qualities that the next president must bring forward, saying the nation deserved a president that would have the interest of Nigerians at heart.
He urged Nigerians to queue behind someone with vast experience in governance, who has the capacity to turn around the economy and confront insecurity.
Wike said: “We are looking for a president that has the capacity and experience in governance, who can put food on the table for everyone and fight insecurity. That’s the person we are looking for; not some people who are talking about ethnicity.”
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osita Chidoka, has questioned Governor Nyesom Wike’s endorsement of his Lagos State counterpart Babajide Sanwo-Olu, saying it is morally wrong.
While featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Chidoka, a member of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said that while Wike was free to associate with anyone, the moral burden laid with the Rivers leader.
He said the party’s leadership would review the governor’s actions.
“Governor Wike has the liberty to do most of the things he’s doing because he has no skin in the game,” the former aviation minister said.
He, however, noted that “if he wants to support the presidential candidate of any party, he is free to do so but he has a moral responsibility not to be sitting on a PDP seat as a governor and be talking about another candidate.
“That moral burden is more on Wike than it’s on PDP to justify why he is taking that position for a party that has been good to him from local government chairman to being the governor of a state.”
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday claimed it was in talks with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State for him to back the party in next year’s general elections.
And as far as APC chieftain Farouk Aliyu is concerned, the party would not hesitate to welcome Wike into its fold ahead of next year’s exercise.
“We are talking to Wike. We are talking to so many of them. Of course, it is politics. So, we are not enemies of Wike, and he is a very important person in this country – a governor for that matter – and you cannot ignore Rivers State,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“So, if Wike decides to come to us, we would gladly welcome him, and I can confirm to you that we are talking to him.”
