A former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mark Jacob, has given the “reason” Nyesom Wike supported President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general election.
Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, is a member of the PDP.
But the former governor supported Mr Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress candidate in the election, who eventually won in the exercise.
Mr Wike was the leader of the G5, a group of then-PDPP governors who were aggrieved with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the then-PDP national leadership.
Apart from Mr Wike, other members of the group include then-Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu State) Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia State).
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is also a member of the group.
The group came about after the PDP presidential primary, where Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku, defeated Mr Wike and others to become the party’s presidential candidate.
The group had demanded the resignation of the then PDP National Chairperson, Iyorchia Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party to achieve a “regional balance”.
The then governors’ argument was that both Mr Ayu and Atiku hail from northern Nigeria.
Mr Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election while Atiku came second.
After his inauguration on 29 May 2023, Mr Tinubu appointed Mr Wike as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, apparently as a reward for his support to the president during the election.
‘Selfish interests’
Speaking on Wednesday when he appeared as a guest on Arise TV’s The Morning Show, Mr Jacob said Mr Wike, and other individuals he did not name, “deliberately worked against the party (PDP)” in the election for his “selfish interests.”
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“My position has been that you can never succeed when you are fighting your own family,” he said, adding that Mr Wike’s rebellion against the PDP was responsible for the party’s failure in the exercise.
The former legal adviser said Mr Wike’s campaign that power should shift to southern Nigeria was because he wanted to be president.
“Everybody now knows that the campaign for power shift by Wike and his group was largely for themselves. It was not for everybody in the south otherwise people like Peter Obi should have been given the (presidential) slot in the PDP,” Mr Jacob stated.
Asked if Mr Wike and others who allegedly worked against the PDP in the election should be expelled, he said, “Personally, I recommend that, as gentlemen, they should resign from the party.
“If they fail to resign, they should be sanctioned.”
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