Wike who came second in the PDP primaries conducted on Saturday, May 28, 2022, accused some PDP governors of sabotaging him.

The governor said some of the governors ganged up to derail the quest of southern Nigeria to produce the next president.

According to him, southern governors had agreed that the presidency should come to the South in 2023, but some of them betrayed the agreement.

Wike said this in a statement by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri on Monday, May 31, 2022.

Describing the action of the governors as shameful, Wike said some of those who were part of the agreement frustrated the collective efforts to secure the PDP presidential ticket for the South.

The statement reads in part: “I contested in an election(primary)based on the principle and agreement with all Southern governors and leaders of the South that the presidency should go to the South during this period. We have done our part. We never betrayed anybody because it is not in our blood to betray. But it is a shame to those people, some of the governors from the South, they are the people that were used to sabotage our course.

“Look at a region ganging up, then you, your own region cannot gang up. You became tools to be used against the interest of your people, and you think you have won, you have lost.

You will continue to be perpetual slaves. Rivers people, you don’t need to bother yourselves. PDP needs us. If they say they don’t need us, they should wait.”

Recall that in September 2021, southern governors unanimously agreed that the 2023 presidency must be zoned to their region for the sake of justice.

The governors also threatened to oppose any party that presents a northerner as its presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections. 

But during the PDP convention last weekend, a northerner, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged as the opposition party’s presidential candidate for the forthcoming election after Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal withdrew from the contest and asked his supporters to vote for Atiku.

Wike has argued that the party should not have allowed Tambuwal to speak after the governor had addressed the delegates.

However, following his defeat, the Rivers State governor has assured the PDP that he would not abandon the party.

Wike has also promised to support the party’s flagbearer, saying he would not go back on the promise to support the party.