Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has slammed a former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, over the latter’s statement.
It would be recalled that in an interview on Channels TV on Monday, Aliyu said the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar did not pick Wike as his running mate because the governor ‘talks too much.’
He said: “You do not go around choosing people that will not complement you. You choose people who will complement your office. People that are ready to take over from you and will make you comfortable.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know if it is his temperament. Sometimes when you speak too much, when you insult your way to power, it does not always happen.
“I can count many people who he has insulted. People will say he is always speaking his mind. But there are times you don’t need to speak your mind.”
Reacting to Aliyu’s comments, Wike on Tuesday, 21 June, in an interview on AIT, accused Aliyu of betraying PDP in 2015.
He said “Tell me what is his strategy for PDP, in Niger state, in Nigeria to win election?
“In 2014/15, the same Aliyu Babangida was one of the those who, with other governors, were going round to bring down PDP. And of course he was happy he did that, today look at the consequences.
“The is the man that has the audacity to talk to a governor whose state produced the highest votes in 2015.”
According to Wike, Aliyu’s insistence that his protege will be governor in Niger has seen the party lose the governorship elections since 2015.
The governor stated “In 2015 what happened to him? He insisted that his own boy must be governor, and PDP lost. Who is the dictator then? Up till now the state congress can not take place because he went dictate who would be the chairman of the party, he should not put PDP into trouble.
”Okay let me ask you, they will sit down in Abuja and produce a successor? Where will they come and camping? They will campaign in Abuja? Which venue in Rivers state will they come and camping?”
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