Wike says G5 will not accept any reconciliation unless it is based on equity and fairness

GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rovers State has declared that he and his colleagues opposed to the candidacy of former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate will not accept any reconciliation unless it is equitable.

In late June, the PDP elected Alhaji Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential election at its annual convention. Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State was a candidate in that election but he was beaten into second place and to make matters worse for him, he was not then picked as the party's running mate.

With Alhaji Abubakar opting to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, Governor Wike and his supporters, made up primarily of four other governors, have  been on the war path. Governors Wike, Seyi Makinde  (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) now make up what is now known as the G5 Group of Governors and have boycotted Atiku's campaign so far.

Despite several meetings between the Atiku and Wike camps to resolve the impasse, the matter has not been sorted out, with the G5 insisting that for there to be peace, PDP chairman Senator Iyorchia Ayu must stand down. According to the G5, the party chairman and its presidential candidate cannot both come from the northern half 0f the country.

Shedding further light on the matter, Governor Wike said the G% will not accept any reconciliation against the principles of equity, justice and fairness. He maintained that their position that elective offices must be shared equally between the north and the south in the PDP ahead of the 2023 general elections remained sacrosanct.

Speaking when he led former APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole to inaugurate a flyover at Rumueprikon in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Port Harcourt, Governor Wike noted that the country was in dire need of unity, justice and equity and that the next election would not be based on party, ethnicity and religion. He said it was unacceptable for anybody to say people should not be voted for because they were not from a particular ethnic group or religion.

Governor Wike said: “People will praise you but the day you say no, they will oppose you. I am sure those of them in my party before they cannot say anything without mentioning Wike but now because I said let the right thing be done, I have now become an enemy.

"We stand for equity, fairness and justice. That is what the G5 will continue to preach. We have said we are not against reconciliation but it must be based on equity, fairness and justice.

“What we require in this country today is united Nigeria. It is how all of us can see ourselves as one and how we can see ourselves as our brothers’ keepers.

 “We need a Nigeria that all of us can be proud of, that I will know that truly I am not a second class citizen, that the same right you have is the same right I have, the same opportunity you have is the same opportunity that I have. No need of saying if you are not from this place people will not vote for you. We don’t want that.

“We want a Nigeria that everybody can say indeed this is the Nigeria we are looking for. For us, all we are looking for is how Nigeria will progress and how people will have food on their tables. It is not about ethnicity, it is not about religion and it is not about party. It is about how Nigeria will progress. That is where we stand.”.