Nyesom Wike hails APC governors for supporting Southern presidency

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has praised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for keeping the rotating presidency and shifting power to the South.

Wike called himself one of the apostles of power shift when he spoke at the opening of the Akpabu-Egbeda road in the Emohua Local Government Area (APC) on Friday. He said that the support for a southern president had nothing to do with political parties but rather with the unity and oneness of Nigeria.

Bola Tinubu, who ran under the APC, was declared the presidential election winner on March 1. Atiku Abubakar, who ran under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came in second.

The governor of Rivers, who is a member of the PDP, didn’t back Atiku’s campaign because, according to the party’s rules, both the presidential candidate and the national chairman can’t come from the same part of the country.

He said, “I thank and commend the people of Emohua local government for standing firm to support the southern presidency.”

“I did say as one of the apostles of power shift; I maintain it has nothing to do about the party (sic). It has to do with the unity of Nigeria; it has to show the oneness of Nigeria.

“That is why I commend the APC governors who came out boldly to say despite the fact that they are in power, they said no, this country we are all one.”

Wike says that the country must stay one, and if that is the case, then power must move to the South.

“I commend them [APC], so whether you voted for [Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter] Obi or you voted for Asiwaju [Tinubu], I have no problem with you, as far as you stood for the southern presidency,” he said.

Ahead of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections that will take place on March 18, Wike encouraged the citizens of the state to protect their polling stations from bullying and snatching of ballot boxes.

After winning “three over three” in the senatorial elections on February 25, the governor of Rivers declared that he will also win all 32 assembly seats in the state.