'Atiku has proven he doesn’t need me for his campaign,' Wike claims

The governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, doe

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The governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, does not need him in his campaign for the 2023 general election.

Wike made this assertion while speaking at the commissioning of the PDP governorship campaign office and the inauguration of the party’s campaign council in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Monday, October 24.

The governor accused Atiku of appointing some members of the PDP in Rivers state into his campaign council without his contribution.

According to Wike, Atiku doesn’t want him and the people of Rivers state to campaign for him ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Wike said that, “Atiku entered Rivers state and picked those he wants to pick without the contribution of the state governor.

“He has proven that he is not counting on me and the votes coming from the good people of Rivers state.

“I have never seen how some people will disrespect a state like Rivers state, by going ahead to choose those who are enemies of the state.

“Since Atiku doesn’t want us to campaign for him ahead of the 2023 general election, we’ll declare our support for those who want us to campaign for them,” he added.

The Rivers state governor, while speaking on the inaugu added that, “This campaign council is to bring out strategies on how to campaign on how to follow the election. This election is a different election. It will not be as usual.”

The governor said each local government in Rivers will have its own strategy to mobilise the people

Recall that since the emergence of former vice-president, Abubakar Atiku, as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general election, there have been intensified moves by some aggrieved members of the party, especially from the camp of the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, for Ayu’s replacement by a candidate from the South.

They argued that the party’s presidential flagbearer for the 2023 presidential poll, and the national chairman, cannot come from the same geo-political zone.

Wike’s camp also noted that they want Ayu to be replaced by a candidate from the south for the purpose of equity and political equation balance.