Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has described Nigeria as a nation bleeding under the shackles of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and desperately in need of rescue from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The governor insisted that the precarious state of the country required all well meaning Nigerians to come together and wrest power from the APC in 2023.
Wike spoke when he visited the former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi at his residence in Kaduna on Monday.
The Rivers State governor in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, urged members of the PDP to unite ahead of the 2023 election.
He said: “Nigeria is bleeding, and so if we are not united Nigeria will not forgive us, because every Nigerian is hoping that PDP must come and stop this bleeding. And we require everybody.
“This is not about who wants to run for presidency, that is not the issue. Who wants to zone presidency, that is not the issue at all. The issue here is all of you as a matter of duty must be united. If you like zone presidency to the West, if you are not united, can you win election?”
Wike said it was obvious that the ruling APC is deficient of ideas and cannot provide solution to the numerous challenges facing the Nigerian State.
According to him, the APC has ruined Nigeria and must be voted out of power.
“APC has finished Nigeria. There is nothing they can tell us now. They don’t have any other idea. If they have any idea, they didn’t use it. Now is what we call injure time. All promises made now cannot be fulfiled. If they had made promise for six years and didn’t fulfil it, is it one and half years left that they will fulfil it”, he said?
Wike said he and other stakeholders in the party remained eternally grateful to the former Kaduna State governor, who as acting national caretaker committee chairman of the PDP, prevented the party from being destroyed by some extraneous forces behind Ali Modu Sheriff.
He said: “Leadership is given by God and you see, when a party is in crisis that is when you know who has leadership quality. When our party was in crisis, when Ali Modu Sheriff was to be used to kill our party, he stood firm, committed and showed braveness and said look, I have no other place to go other than the PDP. So he removed this party from the shackles of Ali Modu Sheriff.”
Wike commended Senator Makarfi and PDP leaders in Kaduna for ensuring the party remains politically relevant in the State. He particularly applauded them for the remarkable performance of the PDP in the last local government election in the State, particularly at the grassroots.
Senator Makarfi in his response, expressed profound gratitude to the Rivers State governor and his entourage for the visit.
He commended Governor Wike and his colleagues for ensuring that the last PDP national convention was successful.
“I have said it, nobody can take that away from you, you are committed, you are passionate for this party. People may like your ways or dislike your ways, nobody can doubt your commitment. Your fearlessness.”
Senator Makarfi, who also acknowledged that Nigeria is bleeding, urged members of the PDP to collectively work together to rebuild the party first, and at the appropriate time, all stakeholders will meet to determine who flies the party’s presidential flag in 2023.
Wike was accompanied by Senator Sandy Onor, former minister of transport, Abiye Sekibo, former PDP chairman in Rivers State, Felix Obuah and former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe.
