Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has stated that he never opposed Labour Party presidential candidates Peter Obi and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the presidential campaign.
Wike indicated that he supported power rotation from the north to the south of the country, which is why he never challenged Tinubu or Obi.
The governor declared himself a “apostle” of Nigeria’s power shift to the south.
He spoke at the inauguration of the Chokocho-Igbodo Road in Rivers State’s Etche Local Government Area.
The governor made it clear that he owed no one an apology for his support for power rotation to the south.
“I don’t care if you voted for Labour or not. I have no problem with you voting for the APC. That is what we have argued: that the north has had it for the past eight years. As a result, the south must stay for eight years.
“As far as I am concerned, anybody from the south, that is my viewpoint. That is what we decided in the Integrity Group: we must ensure that the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria comes from the south.
“No one has ever heard me criticize Obi when I went on a campaign. I’ve never heard someone disparage Asiwaju. “I owe no one an apology for people voting for a southern president,” he remarked.
Prior to the 2023 presidential election, Wike had ignored the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Wike and his group, Integrity group, had clamoured for rotation of the presidency from the North to the South.
The governor also called for the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to be replaced with a Southerner.
He noted that the North can’t produce PDP’s presidential candidate and National Chairman.
