Politics

Zoning: Wike Speaks On Alleged Plan To Join APC, Working For Tinubu

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2023

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has reiterated that he will not join the All Progressives Congress, despite its stance on zoning the presidency to the south.

The governor, who described the insinuations that he will defect to the APC as speculative, maintained that he remained an unrepentant member of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Governor Wike stated these at the 114th quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Monday.

He informed the council ahead of Saturday’s presidential election that he would be voting for only the candidate that could guarantee the unity of the country.

Wike said, “I am not a member of the APC and I will not be. But, they have made me to recognise that they are the heroes of this country.

“The governors came out to say look, for the unity of this country, presidency should go to the south.

“The governors of the APC said the way the country is, they want the unity of this country and therefore, the presidency should go to the south.

“They could have as well said no, it doesn’t matter. As governors, we have the number. We can still say it should remain where it should remain. But they didn’t do that.

“They said the way we are seeing this country we want everybody to be together.

“Let no one say because I have the population, therefore, you will continue to dominate. In dominating you need peace, without peace you cannot govern.”

Speaking on the crisis in the PDP, the governor stated that Rivers State had helped to sustain the party right from the era of former Governor Peter Odili down to his administration.

Therefore, he insisted that it was wrong for a section of the country to deny other people the opportunity to participate in presiding over the affairs of the nation.

“We are all Nigerians and we want the unity of this country. We want Nigeria to move forward as a united country.

“Rivers State has always been in support of one Nigeria and we’ll continue to support one Nigeria. But in doing that, we believe in equity, we believe in justice, we believe in fairness.

“As the governor of this state, I will vote for the unity of this country. I will vote for anything that will unite Nigeria.

“I will not support anything that will divide Nigeria. And that is what necessitated the principle of live and let’s live.

“If only one person continues to live, things will not be good. It’s not about party, it is about Nigeria. I am a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, unrepentant member, who, in fact, built this party when people ran away,” he stated.

He explained that the reason why he had been one of the arrowheads of those agitating inclusivity in the PDP was because of his belief in the unity of the country.

According to him, a strategic state like Rivers cannot be relegated to play second fiddle in the country.

Wike said though he did not encourage traditional rulers’ involvement in politics, he urged them to support the PDP governorship candidate, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, who he formally presented to the council, for the continuity of the developmental strides recorded by his administration since 2015.

“In the next few months, I will be former (governor). But former in a big way. My transition will be smooth, there will be no crisis.

“Don’t make mistake to go and vote for another person. You want to distort everything we have done, and then our state will go backward. Let’s allow continuity.”

The Chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, His Majesty, King Dandeson Jaja, Jeki V, Amanyanabo of Opobo, thanked the governor for the respect he had accorded the council since his assumption of office.

Politics

Amaechi: I Will Resign As FCT Minister If… Wike

Published

5 hours ago

July 4, 2025

Editor

Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike has begged President Bola Tinubu to release the report of the forensic audit on the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, which he said indicted the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

Wike vowed to resign if the report is released and its contents do not indict Amaechi.

Speaking on ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television monitored on Friday in Abuja, Wike who was responding to allegations by Amaechi that he was corrupt, said Amaechi’s wife received N4 billion monthly from the NDDC to train Niger Delta women.

He said, unlike Amaechi, he does not come from a poor background, hence his sophisticated taste.

Wike said, “First of all, Amaechi’s wife was not an industrialist. She has never been, and that is why I call on Mr President to release the forensic audit of NDDC.

“Amaechi’s wife company, every month, got N4 billion to train Niger Delta women. That is N48 billion in one year alone, and the forensic audit report is there. Who killed it? It was Malami, then the Attorney General.

“That is one of the people who is now talking. Mr President should help Nigerians. You see, this is what I have always said. Mr President should help Nigerians. Please, release the forensic audit of the NDDC.

“I have said, let Mr President please do us a favour to release that document. Former Attorney General, Malami, killed that document to protect those who were concerned.

“I am not just saying what I am saying, let them release the document. If what I am saying is not in the document, I will resign at the Minister of the FCT. I said I will resign.

“I don’t worship office. What I am saying, let them release the forensic audit of the NDDC. I didn’t say the forensic audit was right, but I said, release the report of the forensic audit.

“That is how the wife became an industrialist – N4 billion every month to train Niger Delta women”, he stated.

Wike challenged the academic qualifications of Amaechi, describing them as less than average, and also faulted Amaechi’s claim that a Senator gave him (Amaechi) a Rolls-Royce but that he does not use it.

According to the FCT minister, the vehicle was given to Amaechi by a contractor who was executing about -0 percent of the projects in Rivers state. In contrast, the former Transport Minister was the governor.

Politics

Coalition: Abure-led LP Gives Obi 48 Hours To Leave Party

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, a 48 hours ultimatum to leave the party haven formally joined the coalition party.

This was contained in a statement signed by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, on Thursday.

He explained that the Labour Party under Abure’s leadership remains vehemently opposed to joining the coalition while dismissing members of the coalition as “power mongers whose only interest was self and not the people.”

The party warned Nigerians that the often mouthed ‘new Nigeria is Possible’ is a ruse and cannot be achieved with the assemblage of old, recycled, desperate and frustrated politicians in the coalition.

Ifoh said the party is aware that all those who mismanaged Nigeria over the years are the ones that gathered themselves in the coalition while noting that desperate politicians can’t birth new Nigeria.

He said, “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them has refused to defect with him.

“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.

“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one Party and another leg elsewhere.

“People who in the morning they will claim to be in the Labour Party and in the evening they are in coalition.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the Nigerian population are youths who are tired of the old order, tired of gerontocrats deciding their fate. The new Nigeria that the youths are dreaming of, is not what can be realized from what we are seeing in the coalition.

“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in relaunching themselves into circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.

“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realised through the Labour Party, and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.

“I therefore urge all members of the party to remain loyal and keep the party structure intact ahead of future elections.”

Politics

Only A Formidable Coalition Can Salvage Nigeria, Says Peter Obi

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has given his full support for the coalition of opposition parties aimed at ending President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027.

He explained that it was a fact that no single group can change Nigeria alone, hence the need for people to come together to pursue the goal.

The former Amambra State Governor said this in a post on his verified X handle, on Thursday.

He said this just as the Julia Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given him 48 hours within which to formally resign from the party or risk expulsion.

Obi in his post wrote, “Yesterday, the coalition members formally adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 Nigeria General Elections with Distinguished Senator David Mark serving as the National Chairman and H.E. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.

“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.

REAS ALSO: Peter Obi Speaks As Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production

“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.

“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy. A New Nigeria is Possible. -PO.”