The governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, on Friday, March 3, thanked Nigerians for supporting the return of power to Southern Nigeria.
The governor said that the issue of rotational presidency has been settled for good with the emergence of president-elect, Bola Tinubu, who is from the southern region of the country.
Wike made this known when he joined his counterpart from Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, to commission the state’s five million-litre aviation fuel dispensing depot at the Ibadan Airport, Alakia area of the state.
Wike, while speaking on Friday, expressed delight that Makinde is one of those who supported power shift to the south after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from Katsina state, in the north-west geopolitical zone of the country.
Wike said that, “I am happy he (Makinde) is one of those that made history by making sure that power returns to the south.
“I have told people that those who fight for change and revolution may not be direct beneficiaries of the fight, but we are aware that power has come to the south now.
“And when power leaves the south, it will go back to the north, when it finishes from the north, it will come to the south again.
“So, it does not need to be written in the constitution at all before it is implemented.
“And I thank Nigerians for standing firm to ensure that this agenda is now a reality,” he added.
It is worth noting that Wike and Makinde are members of the aggrieved governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also known as G5 or the integrity group.
The G5 is made up of five PDP governors including Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia state), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu state), Samuel Ortom (Benue state), Makinde, and Wike.
Recall that since the emergence of former vice-president, Abubakar Atiku, as PDP candidate for the just concluded presidential election, there have been intensified moves by the G5 to remove the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
The group argued that the party’s flag bearer for the 2023 presidential poll, and the national chairman, cannot come from the same geo-political zone.
The aggrieved governors also stated that they want Ayu to be replaced by a candidate from the south for the purpose of equity and political balance.
However, both Atiku and Ayu called the governors’ bluff and did not succumb to their demands in the just-concluded elections.
Meanwhile, Atiku lost in all the G5 states during the just concluded presidential election, while Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won in Enugu and Abia states, Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured the highest number of votes in Oyo, Benue and Rivers state.
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