Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has said unequivocally that he would never join the All Progressives Congress (APC), notwithstanding its governors’ admirable position on zoning the president to the South.
Wike, who addressed on Monday at the 114th quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, the state capital, dismissed speculation that he will defect to the APC, insisting that he is an unrepentant member of the PDP (PDP).
Before Saturday’s presidential election, the governor assured the council that he will vote for only the candidate who can ensure the country’s unity.
He stated: “I am not a member of APC and I will not be. But, they have made me to recognise that they are the heroes of this country. The governors came out to say look, for the unity of this country, presidency should go to the South.
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“The governors of APC said the way the county is, they want the unity of this country and, therefore, the presidency should go to the South.
“They could have as well said no, it doesn’t matter. As governors we have the number. We can still say it should remain where it should remain. But they didn’t do that. They said the way we are seeing this country we want everybody to be together.
“Let no one say because I have the population, therefore, you will continue to dominate. In dominating, you need peace, without peace you cannot govern.”
Commenting on the PDP problem, the governor claimed that Rivers State has contributed to the party’s survival during the days of previous governor Dr. Peter Odili down to his administration. As a result, he emphasised that it was completely immoral for a sector of the population to deny other people the right to participate in governing the country.
Wike stated: “We are all Nigerians and we want the unity of this country. We want Nigeria to move forward as a united country. Rivers State has always been in support of one Nigeria and we’ll continue to support one Nigeria.
“But in doing that, we believe in equity, we believe in justice, we believe in fairness. As the governor of this State, I will vote for the unity of this country. I will vote for anything that will unite Nigeria.
“I will not support anything that will divide Nigeria. And that is what necessitated the principle of live and let’s live. If only one person continues to live, things will not be good.
“It’s not about party, it is about Nigeria. I am a member of Peoples Democratic Party, unrepentant member, who in fact, built this party when people ran away.”
