Governor Nyesom Wike has described Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, as the hero of the 2023 presidential election for scuttling the chances of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, thereby preventing North from holding on to power.
Wike, addressing a cluster of Rivers state traders associations Saturday in Port Harcourt, said, “Obi is my hero. If Obi did not contest, power would have gone back to the North. The whole of South-South and South-East that PDP lost if Obi did not contest PDP would have won.”
“Obi is the hero. He may not have been pronounced the winner, but no problem, the law will take its course. If Obi did not run this election, power would have remained in the North. Whether he is declared winner now or not, history will be on his side, that he fought and fought well.”
The governor knocked his predecessor and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for wooing Igbos in Rivers to vote for All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Tonye Cole, as governor whereas he allegedly mobilised votes for Atiku in the presidential polls.
“If Amaechi loves the Igbos, why did he not support Obi? Instead, he supported Atiku. He did not want the power to return to the South because he lost his APC ticket”, Wike alleged against Amaechi.
The governor further said Amaechi is deliberately canvassing support for Cole as the next Rivers governor to evade ongoing prosecution for alleged embezzlement of $50M from the Rivers government coffers.
