Wike, Ikpeazu will support Tinubu, says Orji Kalu

Orji Kalu, chief whip of the senate, says Nyesom Wike and Okezie Ikpeazu, governors of Rivers and Abia states, respectively, will support Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking on Monday in a Channels Television interview, Kalu said Tinubu has the needed support to win the presidential election.

WIke and Ikpeazu are governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, and they are both members of the G5 group.

Other governors in the G5 group are Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Samuel Ortom of Benue, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu.

The five PDP governors have distanced themselves from the presidential campaign of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP flagbearer, over the refusal of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairperson, to resign his position.

Wike, the leader of the G5 group, had announced that the group will adopt its preferred presidential candidate in January but the group is yet to publicly announce its preferred candidate.

Speaking on the APC’s chances, the senate chief whip said Tinubu is “well-liked” in the northern part of the country, adding that the former Lagos governor is a “good administrator”.

“Scientifically, we (APC members) are more in number. Demographically, we are also more. It is not a matter of polls. These polls do not work here because some of these polls are biased,” he said.

“Tinubu is a frontrunner. Tinubu is well-liked by the north and is from the south-west and is going to get meaningful votes in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Anambra, and Enugu and he is going to have the support of governor Wike of Rivers state. So, we’re on track.

“My governor here – Okezie Ikepazu – will also support Tinubu. My senatorial district is going to give Tinubu the votes — 34, 35 percent — to be on the ballot.

“Tinubu will win because they know that Tinubu’s presidency will help us to have a stepping stone to a free market. People of the south-east will vote for Tinubu.”