As the race to the 2023 general election gears up, the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike may be leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, anytime soon, recent developments have indicated.
Wike, who lost the Presidential Primaries of the party and also missed out on becoming its 2023 vice presidential candidate has been very quiet on the development.
He is said to have established talks with the ruling All progressives Congress, APC.
Wike contested at the recently concluded presidential primaries of the PDP and lost.
He came second behind Mr. Atiku Abubakar who polled the popular vote and was declared the winner.
Atiku polled 371 out of the 767 accredited votes to defeat his closest rival, Wike, who polled 237 votes.
The Presidential aspirant had on the heels of the turn out of the primaries accused PDP’s Southern governors of betraying the power shift agreement.
But, ever since the last outing which did not roll into his favour, his attempt to emerge as running mate to Atiku didn’t materialise.
On Saturday, Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi, arrived in Port-Harcourt and met with Wike on what he called “a friendly and brotherly” visit at 9pm.
This visit makes it Umahi’s first meeting with Wike after the former dumped the PDP for the APC following an alleged dissatisfaction with the party. Wike and Umahi both contested the primaries of their respective parties.
However, the Rivers Governor is regarded as a victim of intense “powerplay and gang up” by vociferous forces within his party after he was denied the vice presidential candidacy despite being the party’s favourite.
He had been endorsed by the screening committee of the party but was passed over for Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State. This development reportedly left him very unhappy.
He accused PDP’s Southern governors of betraying the power shift agreement.
A South-South Coordinator of the Tinubu Support Group, Mr. Gabriel Abijah, in a recent interview, revealed that Wike will soon join APC.
“As we speak, Wike will soon be a member of APC. we are working on the issue and I can not disclose our modality. He is our brother and we love him.”
He said with the current development, the APC presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s victory will sweep all geopolitical zones including the south-south.
Abijah maintained that the political structure of APC in the state remains very strong and that the party faithful is more than 60 percent compared to PDP.
If Wike moves to the APC, Political Pundits predict that the PDP may lose the south-south as Rivers state is responsible for almost 2 million votes.
