Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, has clear the air regarding Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the vice presidential slot of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to The Punch, the ex-governor noted that Wike made it clear that he was not interested in becoming the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election.
Lamido explained that Wike, who contested the presidential primary of the PDP, said he was not using the primary to negotiate for a VP slot.
The former governor, who said he was a member of the committee that recommended three persons for presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, however, said the former vice president was not obliged to the committee’s advice.
He affirmed:“I was on the panel. Now, the criteria the members of that committee might have used might have been confined within the walls of the PDP, but they chose somebody for Nigeria not for the PDP.
''If the whole thing is going to be centered on the PDP, by the time we have an in-house thing, we may lose the election, no problem, but then, whatever we do, we're going to bring it outside and tell Nigerians that this is what we are giving them, that was what we did."
Earlier, the former governor said Wike has the right to be angry for not achieving his presidential ambition on the platform of the PDP.
Lamido said: ''He is right to be angry for having not achieved his own personal interest or ambition but again, that is what leadership entails. He is a party man and the party is not his enemy. “
''The party is his home, his own group, his own support and, therefore, whatever might have been the failure of him to achieve his interest, should not be taken too seriously at a personal level.
''Wike is now like a boiling pot. There is so much anger in him because people around him will not allow him to see clearly.”
Lamido described Governor Wike as an asset to the PDP and a front-runner who had engraved his name in glory, given his performance as chief executive of the oil-rich state.
He, however, blamed undisclosed individuals close to the governor for fanning flames of enmity, adding that the party must rescue the Rivers State governor and preserve him for the future.
Also, a chieftain of the PDP, Mr Ejiofor Onyia has said the fact that Wike was not chosen by the PDP Presidential Candidate, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, as his running mate in the 2023 election did not detract from the credentials of the Rivers State governor as a faithful PDP leader and pillar of support in the party.
Onyia, who is a staunch member of the Atiku Abubakar solidarity organisation, said party members should be more concerned at this point in time about how to heal the unavoidable bruises from the presidential primary election and to forge ahead.
Speaking during a telephone chat with ThisDay, the PDP stalwart said he was not aware of the reason or reasons why Wike was not chosen by Abubakar as the party’s VP saying the former vice president was yet to tell anybody that he had anything against Wike.
Onyia who is also the Chairman, Friends of Waziri Atiku, advised Nigerians, especially PDP faithful, to let Wike be as, “he has done nothing wrong,” saying all hands should be on the deck in the onerous task of ensuring the victory of the party in the presidential election next year.
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