Former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has explained why
he believes Nyesom Wike will never support the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku
Abubakar.
Mr Fayose, in an interview with PremiumTimes, said power
must shift to the southern part of Nigeria in 2023 after the expiration of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.
The former governor also recounted how Mr Atiku “promised”
to make Mr Wike, the Rivers State governor, his running mate after he was
declared winner of the PDP presidential primary election.
According to the former Ekiti governor, Mr Atiku failed to fulfil his promise to Mr Wike when he settled for the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate.
“Wike never said he wanted to be VP, but when Atiku visited
him, he was the one who said, ‘I want you to be my VP’. He said that to Wike.
If that then changes, is Wike not supposed to be told? Is he not supposed to
know?”
He recalled that Mr Atiku had ignored the recommendation of
a committee set up by the opposition party to pick his running mate.
“PDP set up a committee to recommend a running mate for the
candidate and the committee voted and picked Wike, but they didn’t comply with
the recommendation of the committee.”
“If the party is now a one-man show, we will show them that
we can resist it. We are with Wike 100 per cent.
“When they need Wike’s money and Wike’s support, they will
say, ‘Wike is good enough’. Wike has been injured, but we will remain with him.
Whatever he does is what we would do; wherever he asks us to go is where we
will go.”
When asked what would happen should Mr Wike ask them to
support Mr Atiku, the former governor said: “Wike will never say we should
support Atiku.
“Wike cannot come out to say he is supporting Atiku. I dare
him to say so; because he knows that whatever he says will haunt him forever.
If Wike supports Atiku, we will abandon him.”
Atiku responds
Contacted for a response, Paul Ibe, Mr Atiku’s spokesperson,
said his principal and the party will continue to appeal to aggrieved persons
within their fold to embrace dialogue.
“Because the bigger challenge is winning the election,
kicking out the APC and stopping them from the many years of impoverishing our
people,” said Mr Ibe.
“It is normal for our
people to be aggrieved but the PDP has a way of resolving issues like this and
that will be done and we all shall be happy.”
‘Power to the south’
On whether the plan is now to technically support the All Progressives Congress (APC)
candidate, Bola Tinubu, or his counterpart in the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Mr
Fayose said: “this is not about Bola Tinubu or Obi, but this is about our
belief that power must come to the south and it is a struggle we must
actualise.
Mr Fayose further explained that “when the June 12 election
was cancelled, the presidency was zoned to the southwest to pacify the
southwest region.
“When former President Goodluck Jonathan was over staying,
it was believed that he was already using the northern slot. So, he was opposed
and a northern candidate was installed through the APC.
“This time, it is the turn of the south because Buhari has
spent eight years. Why will PDP be insisting that it must again be the turn of
the north.”
Mr Fayose also stated that he does not care if his actions
are perceived as anti-party activity.
“ What I am saying is, it is the turn of the South, and if
they want to expel me, to hell with them. I am not taking money from anyone to
belong to this party.
“If they want to rock this boat, we will help them to rock
it.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com