You Frustrated Zoning Of PDP Presidential Ticket To South – Wike Fires Atiku

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of impeding the party’s presidential ticket’s micro-zoning to the South.

Wike was accused on Monday during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Akpabu-Odido Road project in Itu, Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

The governor claimed that the former Vice President and his party cohorts thwarted efforts to zone the presidency to the South while the zoning committee was established.

Wike stated that he has always believed in and supported concerted efforts to ensure that the presidency is zoned to the South and that the party’s chairmanship should go to the North.

The governor, on the other hand, urged the former Vice President to keep him and four other disgruntled PDP governors out of the party’s serious problems.

He said:

I woke up this morning and read where they said, how Wike and Ortom frustrated PDP’s micro-zoning of the presidential ticket to South-East. That was what the PDP presidential candidate Atiku said.

I keep on saying, they’ll be contradicting themselves, telling lies up and down, thinking that Nigerians don’t know. How can they say that I influenced Ortom, told him to allow it, and throw the ticket open?

Nigerians know those who are opposed to the zoning of the party’s chairmanship first. And when the zoning committee was set up, this time, Atiku had gone to buy form to frustrate the recommendation of the zoning committee. So that when they have bought form, they could say, oh, there is no need for zoning. Will you tell people to withdraw?

I was one of those who led the campaign that the party’s chairmanship should go to the North because I believe the presidency should go to the South.

I attended meetings of Southern Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other parties from Delta to Lagos to Enugu States, where we agreed that presidency should come to the South.

The governor said it was rather noteworthy that the gimmick played by the former Vice President and his allies are now hunting them because they were unfair to Nigerians.

Wike maintained that the Atiku camp cannot turn around now to blame him and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to deceive Nigerians.

He added:

Yes, you don’t like Ortom, no problem. I know my own, you don’t like me, no problem. But I, my state gave you the highest support in 2019 both with logistics and by votes.

You can’t deceive every Nigerian again. What I have stood for is equity, fairness, and justice. So, saying that I and Ortom frustrated PDP micro-zoning to the South-East is neither here nor there. They know that they don’t want the presidency to come to the South.