Wike blames southern governors for his loss of PDP presidential ticket to Atiku

GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State blamed southern governors for his recent loss in the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) presidential primaries saying that they betrayed their region at a time when they were needed.

Over the weekend, Governor Wike lost the PDP presidential primaries to former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at the party convention in Abuja. Alhaji Abubakar, 75, scored 371 votes to Governor Wike's 337 votes, making him the party's flagbearer in next year's presidential elections.

Accepting his loss as the will of God, Governor Wike went on, however, to accuse governors of southern Nigeria of betrayal. He added that he almost scuttled the presidential primary after Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State was allowed to return to the podium to announce his withdrawal from the race.

Governor Wike said: “Shame to those who will sell out their own, I have never seen a thing like that. No wonder we cannot move on with development.

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

He declared that he would not allow himself to be treated as a second class citizen in the country. Lamenting the outcome of the election, Governor Wike said the north should not claim ownership of the country, saying Nigeria does not belong to a particular geo-political zone.

Governor Wike added: “We have all it takes to do whatever we want to do. It is a matter of you to be fruitful. We cannot answer second class citizens in Nigeria.

“We just used this one to tell them that enough is enough. We made them not to sleep, we made them not to eat, we made all of them from wherever they think they are coming from to know that there is somebody who can take them on.

“This country does not belong to one particular zone. If people are afraid of talking, it is their business. I cannot be a second class citizen in my country."