What happened at Saraki's house after I 'chose' Obi as Atiku's running mate - Wike
Wike said it's unfair for anyone to accuse him of working against Obi in the last presidential election.
Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.
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![Abdullahi Ganduje [Facebook]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Abdullahi Ganduje [Facebook]")
According to the governor, he received backlash from his colleagues and friends over his decision to nominate the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to be the running mate to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in 2019.
Wike opened this account while reacting to claims by the former Anambra State Governor that he (Wike) worked against him (Obi) in this year's presidential election.
Even though he never publicly admitted it, Wike was believed to have directed his foot soldiers and political allies to work for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the February 25 election.
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This may have helped Tinubu, whose party had never gotten 25% of votes cast in Rivers in a presidential election, to not only achieve that electoral threshold but also to win the state outrightly ahead of Obi and Atiku.
But, speaking on the development during a media chat with selected journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, Wike said he never asked Rivers people to vote for any candidate.
Contrary to the allegation, the governor insisted that he never worked against Obi in Rivers during the presidential election, recalling how he was supportive of the Labour Party candidate in the build-up to the 2019 election.
Wike's words: “I never told Rivers state people to vote for a candidate, I told them to vote for the unity of Nigeria. I take exception to Peter Obi’s comment that I came out against him. People are not being sincere, people are not being appreciative.
“In 2019, ask Peter Obi, I was part of the team that chose Peter Obi to be the vice-presidential candidate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. When we met at Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s house, he said these are the names and we chose Peter Obi.
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“While we were at (Bukola) Saraki’s house in the night, I was fought by people like Ike Ekweremadu and my own friend, people like the governor of Ebonyi state, people were like why must I be the one to choose Peter Obi, why must I choose for the candidates?
“Did he come out to say Governor Wike was the one who supported me to be the vice-presidential candidate?
“When he said I came out against him, it is unfortunate because nobody has ever heard me during my campaigns saying don’t vote for Peter Obi, I never said so. But even if that is the case, that I didn’t support you, you cannot say that I came out against you. I didn’t have any agreement with you in the first place.”
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