Wike explains why he congratulated Buhari over tribunal verdict

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has explained why he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal upheld his victory at the 2019 presidential poll.

The tribunal on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, declared President Buhari as the authentic winner of the election, and following the judgement, Governor Wike was the first member of the opposition party to congratulate the president.

Speaking at the funeral service of late Madam Blessing Awuse, mother of one of PDP leaders in the state, Wike said, “I am sure all of you are surprised that I congratulated Buhari.”

“Is it not good for me to congratulate him than to go to his house in the night?

“Many PDP governors go to see him in his house in the night. I have never gone and I will not go. I won’t go.

“We are the only state that the Federal Government refused to pay us our money used to execute federal projects because I don’t go to see him in the night and I won’t go.

“He is not my friend; he is not doing well, but he won in court.

“Should I say that the court did wrong? No.

“President Buhari, congratulations and carry Nigerians along.

“Unify the country; the country is too divided.

“I am saying what is right. What I will do, I will do; what I will not do, I will not do.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has rejected tribunal’s judgement on the 2019 presidential election.

The party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan alleged that despite the flawless evidence laid before the court, President Buhari was still declared winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Describing the judgement as a barefaced subversion of justice and a direct assault on the integrity of the nation’s justice system, Ologbondiyan said the party was shocked that the tribunal allegedly failed to point to justice.

The opposition party however urged Nigerians to remain calm, saying its lawyers are upbeat about obtaining justice at the Supreme Court.