Amid crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), Amb. Desmond Akawor, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Rivers State has vowed to support Bola Tinubu APC presidential candidate ahead of 2023 general elections.
DAILY GIST understands that Atiku and Wike have been at loggerheads over a ‘violation’ of the party’s zoning arrangement between the North and the South.
Several efforts to resolve the ongoing rift between the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike and Atiku had failed.
Wike and his camp have remained adamant on the removal of the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu. The Rivers state governor maintains that the Party chairman and its Presidential Candidate can’t come from the same region.
Recall on Wednesday that Wike and his team pulled out from Atiku’s campaign stating that they will not be part of any activities until Ayu is removed.
They insisted that the position must come to the South for balance, justice, and equity in the party, hence they will not play any role in Atiku Abubakar’s campaign council.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY SUN, the party chairman in Rivers, Desmond stated that he would rather support the Muslim/Muslim ticket of APC than voting another Fulani as the president.
According to him, Atiku cannot solve the problem of insecurity.”
He said: “I’m from Oyigbo, Rivers State. Our people are more of cassava producers and you expect me to tell my people not to farm or produce cassava because of the fear of getting attacked by Fulani herdsmen in their farms?
Atiku Abubakar who is the presidential flagbearer of the party is a Fulani from Adamawa state.
He said: “A Fulani cannot stop Miyetti Allah. It is a natural thing for them. So, if another Fulani man comes on board, he will not stop Miyetti Allah from operating their cow business. That is what is going on in the country today and that is why the president cannot speak against them or act against them. That is my answer to you”
Desmond said “we need to be very careful as a country on the issue of Muslim/Muslim ticket and Fulani/Fulani ticket.”
“We all knew how we celebrated Mohammadu Buhari when he was a military head of state with Tunde Ideagbon. It was the same thing during the 1993 elections when Abiola emerged with another Muslim; none of us was interested in Muslim/ Muslim ticket.”
“We struggled for Abiola, so this time around, let us not be confused. The issue is that lets look at the competency of the candidates in question. Are we concerned about Muslim/Muslim or are we concerned about Fulani/Fulani? The crisis we have in West Africa, is it a Muslim/Muslim issue or a Fulani/Fulani Jihad?
“What is happening to us in Nigeria, in Benue, in Zamfara, in Sokoto, is it the Muslims that are being saved or some Fulani movement that is eliminating our people? We need to be careful in taking decisions, we have choices in our hands. So, for me, one thing we must stop is the Fulani/Fulani movement. If at the end of the day the option/alternative becomes a Muslim/Muslim agenda, in order to stop another Fulani president from succeeding a former Fulani president, I will support the agenda as Desmond Akawor. So, it’s good to get this picture right, people talk about Muslim/Muslim ticket, nobody talks about the continuation of a Fulani man taking over from a Fulani president”
“So, you look at what is going on at the West African coast right from Upper volta down, there is a movement that feels that Nigeria is where they should settle. Something happened in Turkey before it happened close to Nigeria. Again, I implore us to be careful. In fact, when people say Tinubu’s wife Remi is a pastor in Redeemed and they live in the same room, those are not the issues. The question is who is Tinubu as a person? Is he somebody that will change the misfortunes of the country? That is my concern. The one I don’t want us to agree on is this Igbo presidency coming from the South East.”
The particular reason I don’t want us to agree on Igbo presidency is because it is doing nobody any good.
