Presidential poll: Wike commends Nigerians for supporting power shift to the south

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, has thanked Nigerians for supporting the return of power to southern Nigeria.

Wike spoke on Friday when he joined Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, to inaugurate the state’s 5,000,000-litre aviation fuel dispensing depot at the Ibadan airport.

In the build-up to the primary, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sold presidential nomination forms to aspirants, irrespective of region.

However, just before the APC presidential primary in June 2022, governors elected on the party’s platform agreed — although not a unanimous decision — that the ticket would be zoned to the south.

Wike had recently said APC governors who supported the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the south are “heroes”.

He leads a group of five governors — known as G5 — which stood against the presidential bid of Atiku  Abubakar, candidate of the PDP, arguing that his election as the standard bearer was against the agreement to zone the presidency to the south.

Wike and his allies— including Makinde, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu — excluded themselves from the party’s presidential campaign over calls for Iyorchia Ayu to step down as the national chairperson.

Speaking in Ibadan, the governor of Rivers said the issue of the rotational presidency has been settled for good with the election of Bola Tinubu, a southerner, as the president-elect.

He also commended Makinde for supporting a power shift to the south.

“I am happy he is one of those that made history by making sure that power shift to the south,” Wike said.

“I have told people that those who fight for change, who fight for revolution may not be direct beneficiaries of that fight but today, history has it that all of us now are aware that when power finishes from the south, it will go to the north; when it finishes from the north, it will come to the south.

“So, it does not need to be written in the constitution at all before it is implemented. And I thank Nigerians for standing firm to see that this issue materialise.”