Mr Nyesom Wike, the Governor of Rivers State, has asked the Peoples Democratic Party to choose him as its presidential candidate in 2023, claiming that he is the only one capable of deposing the current All Progressives Congress.
Nigeria, he believes, is in desperate need of an honest president, and that person is none other than himself.
Wike, who has proclaimed his intention to run for President of Nigeria in 2023, spoke in Niger State, where he was seeking support for his campaign.
The Rivers governor met with PDP stakeholders in Niger State at the party’s secretariat in Minna, according to the Nigerian News Agency.
He stated there was nothing wrong with the party deciding on a presidential candidate by consensus if the decision was made on the basis of equity, justice, and fairness.
“I am here today to inform you that I have made myself available to run for President of this country on behalf of our party, the PDP,” he stated. Since 1998, I have been a member of the PDP; I have never left and will never quit.
“If I receive the delegates’ vote to designate me the flag-bearer, I can become President.” The country requires someone who can see white and call it white, as well as someone who can see black and name it black, and I am that person.”
Wike, who gave the current administration a dismal rating for the security of lives and property, bemoaned that under the APC’s watch, assassins had taken over the country.
People can no longer sleep or travel without fear of being kidnapped, and farmers can no longer go to work,” he said, describing Niger State as one of the most insecure states in the country.
Mr Tanko Beji, the Chairman of the Niger State PDP, responded by thanking Wike for standing by the state party when it needed him to reconcile members, saying that the reconciliation had made the party more united and stronger in its quest to retake power in the state in 2023.
Beji claimed that the party and the country required someone to refocus them and modify the reward structure, and that the government would create a level playing field for everyone to participate.
Senator Zainba Kure and Mr Jerry Gana, in separate statements, hailed Wike as a “gender-friendly leader who might provide women the opportunity to contribute and add value to the state’s and country’s growth and development.”
