The Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said that his support to Tinubu/Shettima presidency has brought the South-South State closer to the federal government.
Recall that during the recent concluded prudential election, Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), triumphed over Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
However, Rivers State being a PDP controlled state, aided Tinubu’s victory to power.
Speaking during a meeting with 48 APC support organizations and PDP governorship candidate Siminialaye Fubara in Port Harcourt, the state’s capital, Wike said that the State had been severely neglected by the federal government for the previous eight years and that Tinubu’s win had given the State a new hope.
The Integrity Group leader, represented by the State PDP chairman, Desmond Akawo, said: “Rivers State is reconnected again to the Federal Government. Within the last eight years, it has been a war.
“Rivers State has been at loggerheads with the Federal Government and we said, no, this war cannot continue. So, for us in Rivers, he (Wike) has reconnected us back to the mainstream of governance in this country.”
Wike, who reaffirmed the party’s desire for power to return to Southern Nigeria in the interests of equality and fairness, also said that Rivers State should adopt zoning.
His words: “We supported Asiwaju so that power can return to the South. Whether Asiwaju or Peter Obi, for us, the next president must be a Southerner in the spirit of equity.
“So, in that same spirit of equity, Rivers State, having elected a governor from Rivers West through Peter Odili, Rivers East through Rotimi Ameachi and Wike, we said power should go to Rivers Southeast and to riverine parts of Rivers Southeast, since all the governors have been from the upland.
“So, in the next 72hours, Rivers State will elect the youngest governor in Nigeria, in the person of Sim Fubara, for a better succession plan. Lagos State is succeeding because it has a better succession plan, from Asiwaju to Babatunde Fashola to the incumbent governor of Lagos State. Sim is a man who understands Rivers State.”
Tony Okocha, the coordinator of the Tinubu/Fubara Support Groups and chairman of the APC in Rivers State, declared that the APC Support Groups will vote for Fubara in appreciation for Wike’s backing of Tinubu during the presidential election.
He added: “On the 25th of February while some APC members were working against our presidential candidate, the PDP in Rivers State supported Asiwaju. So, we have come to pay back because one good turn deserves another. So, on March 18, we will be coming out in our numbers to reciprpcate his kind gesture by voting PDP candidtae, Sim Fubara, as governor of Rivers State.
“In Rivers State, we want to chart a new course as a vanguard, and that new course is that we will be voting PDP candidtae, Sim Fubara, as governor of Rivers State.”
