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Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State recently granted an interview on African Independent Television (AIT), where he spoke on the forthcoming governorship elections in Edo, and Ondo elections and why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must strategise to take over power in 2023, among other issues. JOY ANIGBOGU who monitored the session brings the excerpts:
of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State as your party’s flag bearer for September gubernatorial election?
South-South has been PDP states since 1999. Unfortunately, we had a problem that led to the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole, who became the governor of the State and for the past 12 years that state has been in the hands of opposition.
We worked very hard to see that the state returns to where it should be, unfortunately that didn’t happen. The man who was the candidate of the party in 2016, I heard is now the candidate of APC wasn’t good. Luckily for us the governor who was in APC is now a PDP governor.
Now talk about what would happen in September. Some people thought that PDP wouldn’t accept my good friend, Obaseki. They didn’t understand that in politics, not always would one plus one, equal two. What is important is to understand why it should be so.
I didn’t want PDP to suffer what APC is suffering today and would continue to suffer tomorrow. When you are a ruling party, there is that level of impunity that you always express, and because you are in charge you would be tempted to do anything, and for us as an opposition party we cannot act that way.
It is for that reason that some people said a lot of things. In Edo, there are people in the party, who nurtured the party for twelve years, when PDP was not in power, and you don’t just push them aside, if you do, there would be a crisis.
Was that the reason you said that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) have turned themselves to tax collectors?
When there are infractions in the constitution of a party and because you want to do something the way you want it, you do not know that you are causing problem.
The governor is happy now because there are no litigations and if they had gone the way they wanted, you would have seen a lot of litigations against the governor and he would not be talking about governance and campaigns.
There are those who would say because they are members on NWC, they would want to do things, they way they want. I want to say this with due respect, people may not like you because of the way you talk.
I advised that as an opposition party; let things be done in such a way that the party would not lose out. I pity the judiciary because when these parties fail to keep their houses in order, they would shift the blame to the judiciary. If you have the constitution, whatever you are doing must be guided by the constitution, and due process.
You made the constitution and if you don’t want to abide by the constitution, then you don’t make the constitution. If you put your house in order, there won’t be any need for anybody to seek redress.
APC, because they are in power they want to do anything, even when they are wrong, they would claim they have control of everything. We agreed that there were people (aspirants) here before, we should discuss with them and that was exactly what we did. You could see the way all of them went to the primary together, raised their hands together, that showed unity. If you had done anything to think that Mr. A was not important, there would be a problem. We are 70 percent sure that PDP would win Edo election.
All the governors of South-South have agreed that it is an election for all of us, and we must be there.
Won’t that amount to breach of the electoral guideline?
Remember the last Bayelsa State gubernatorial election; governors of APC were at that election. If I am not registered, I don’t need to go and vote, but you cannot stop me from going there.
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