Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, says it is becoming difficult to convince Nigeria that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), can rescue the country.
Wike said this on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when the management of the New Telegraph newspaper visited him at the Government House to present its nomination of the Rivers governor as the Political Icon of the Year 2022.
Wike said the marginalisation of the minority ethnic nationalities in the country caused much of Nigeria’s challenges. According to him, it was becoming a “more difficult task” to convince Nigerians that the PDP can rescue the country.
Apart from the high rates of inflation, hunger and poverty, Nigeria is grappling with serious security challenges, ranging from Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, violent Biafra agitation in the South-East, and kidnapping and banditry across the country.
Recall that Wike and other governors who are his allies have been demanding the resignation of the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party in order to achieve a “regional balance”. Both Mr Ayu and the PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar are from the north. However, Ayu has insisted he would not resign.
The PDP chairman said recently that he has the power to stop his political enemies, like the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, from realising his ambition to go to the Senate in 2023.
The governor said he and others would continue to demand Mr Ayu’s resignation, no matter the “blackmail” against them. He said it is difficult for Mr Ayu to lead the PDP to victory in the 2023 elections.
