By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Governor of Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, Nyesom Wike has hailed Peter Obi, the opposition Labour Party’s candidate in the Feb. 25 presidential election, describing him as hero of the keenly contested poll which saw the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as winner by the electoral management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Wike spoke during a Townhall Meeting on Saturday in Port Harcourt, the state capital attended by traders from South East region. The governor said Obi’s participation in the election guaranteed the emergence of a southerner as the President-elect.
“In this election that we just did,” he said, “Obi is my hero, as far as I’m concerned. If he didn’t contest, power would have remained in the North.”
According to the governor, the states where Obi recorded victories would have been won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate, a situation he believes would have allowed the country’s presidency remain in the northern region. Tinubu is from Lagos State, South West Nigeria.
The incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari hails from Katsina, North West geopolitical zone.
Wike who had campaigned for power shift to South was one of the five aggrieved PDP governors known as G5 who refused to support their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over an alleged violation of the party’s constitution on zoning.
Wike urged the traders to ignore comments by detectors and vote for the PDP in the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections.
The governor also debunked allegations of working against Obi’s presidential bid.
He told the traders he came to the market because he had heard they were angry with him that he allegedly worked against Obi during the presidential election.
Wike explained that he had no reason to work against the former Anambra governor when he and other G5 governors advocated for southern presidency.
