Wike won’t defect… he’s PDP to the marrow, says BoT member

Adamu Waziri, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) board of trustees (BoT), says Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, will not leave the party.

Waziri, a former minister of police affairs, said this on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television.

The development comes amid speculations over if Wike would defect after he lost the presidential and vice-presidential tickets of the party.

Amid calls for reconciliation, Walid Jibrin, PDP BoT chairman, had said the party will take measures to ensure members remain united ahead of the 2023 polls.

Recently, there had been reports that Waziri was named as the emissary sent by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, to meet with Wike while the latter was on vacation in Turkey.

However, Waziri said the meeting with the Rivers governor in Turkey, was a coincidence.

“The report was inaccurate. I went to Istanbul on holiday on Friday, and governor Wike came to Istanbul on Wednesday,” he said.

“He didn’t know I was in Istanbul. I didn’t know he was coming. We met in front of the lift of the hotel. We happened to stay in the same hotel. We talked briefly but not as deep as I would have wanted, but he didn’t refuse to see me.

“Governor Wike is a PDP man to the marrow. He will not go anywhere. He has invested so much in PDP. Governor Wike knows I appreciate his situation, because he knows I fought for Waziri (Atiku) to become the candidate. So, there’s no problem about that.

“But both of us are members of the PDP and we have reached a point that as committed and loyal members when a party takes a decision, we must follow and try to strengthen the party.

“Governor Wike did say on the convention floor that he is going to work for the success of the presidential candidate of the party, irrespective of whether he won or not. And I have known governor Wike to be a very steadfast person.”