Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike has accused the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar of lying and sending ‘attack dogs’ after him.
“When lies are being concocted and you refuse to react to it, people say it becomes the facts,” Wike said on Friday. “When he (Atiku) unveiled his vice presidential candidate, no right-thinking person and lover of this party will say that the speech he (Atiku) made was fair.
“See the statements he made – I never reacted to it.
“Thereafter he appeared on a TV interview, so many lies were told. Assuming I was not alive, those would have been the truth – look at his attack dogs Sule Lamide, Babangida Aliyu, Maina Waziri – look at the abuses they rained on me.”
Wike contested the PDP presidential ticket for the 2023 elections in May but came second to Atiku, a former vice president under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Although Wike pledged to work for whosoever emerges as PDP presidential candidate during his speech at the primary election, events that took place after Atiku’s win suggest otherwise.
The PDP last week said they were reaching out to aggrieved members of the party, including Wike amid fears he might want to leave.
But Wike said he is committed to the PDP but did not speak on supporting Atiku’s presidential bid.
The Rivers State governor said he will speak on the issues between him, the PDP, and Atiku before the general elections.
“When the time comes, I will speak and Nigerians will know what actually happened. And they will decide for themselves,” Wike said.
Atiku’s decision to allegedly ditch the recommendation of a PDP committee to pick Wike as his running mate for Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa further strained their relationship.
Speaking at an TV interview last week, Atiku denied receiving a recommendation from a PDP panel vote to choose Wike as running mate and stated that he chose Okowa because he wanted someone he could work with “amicably”.
“Governor Wike was not rejected. Nobody was rejected in the party. But you must understand that it’s the prerogative of the candidate to pick his running mate — a running mate he believes he can work with amicably, and then also deliver the policies of the party, and also try to unify the country,” Atiku said.
Atiku said he opted for Okowa instead of Wike because he wanted someone that could “deliver the policies of the party, and also try to unify the country.”
The PDP presidential candidate praised Wike as a courageous and brilliant politician who has a future in Nigerian politics.
“Governor Wike is a brilliant politician. He’s courageous, tenacious,” Atiku said. “I believe he has a future in the political evolution of this country. It’s not a question of rejection. Certainly, not. I think it’s too harsh a word to say that we rejected governor Wike. Certainly not.”
Source: Guardian.ng