Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has ruled out any last last-minute truce between the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and the G5 governors of the party.
Governor Wike, who disclosed this in Port Harcourt on Thursday during a media chat, said he owes nobody an apology for hosting Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Channels television reported.
Mr Tinubu, who was in the state for his campaign, visited Mr Wike at Government House, Port Harcourt, after the rally amidst allegations that Mr Wike, a PDP member, had “surreptitiously” asked political appointees in the state to canvas support for the APC candidate.
The governor said he was not ready to broker peace between the G5 on one hand and Mr Atiku and the PDP leadership led by its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, on the other hand.
“No one can do that. It’s over! We have said it and there is nothing anybody can do about it now. They believe they can win the election. I am not ready to sit down with anybody again,” he said.
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Mr Wike is the leader of the G5, a group of PDP governors who are aggrieved with Atiku and the PDP leadership.
Besides Mr Wike, other members of the group are governors Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).
The group was birthed after the PDP presidential primary in May last year which Mr Wike lost to Atiku.
The group fell out with Atiku for reneging on the alleged promise to ensure the exit of Mr Ayu as the chairperson of the party. They want Mr Ayu to be replaced by a southerner as a condition to support Atiku.
Mr Ayu and Atiku are both northerners, an arrangement the group said was unfair and unjust to the south.
Commenting on the Atiku’s reception by Enugu State Governor, Mr Ugwuanyi, who is a G5 member, the Rivers governor said the group was aware and added that the action does not mean the Enugu governor has deserted the group.
Mr Wike on Wednesday praised Bola Tinubu as a man with “character and courage” and that Nigeria “desperately” needs the APC presidential candidate.
Many people are bound to consider Mr Wike’s remarks as an endorsement of Mr Tinubu for the 25 February election.
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