Olusegun Olanrewaju

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, yesterday described Nigeria as a nation bleeding and desperately in need of rescue from the shackles of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The governor said the precarious state of the Nigerian state requires all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to come together and wrest power from the APC in 2023.

A statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said Wike stated this when he visited the former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, at his residence in Kaduna yesterday.

The Rivers governor, who disclosed that he was not in Kaduna for political reasons, but to wish Makarfi a speedy recovery and thank God for safeguarding his life, urged members of the PDP to unite.

“Nigeria is bleeding, and so if we are not united, Nigeria will not forgive us, because every Nigerian is hoping that PDP must come and stop this bleeding.

“And we require everybody. This is not about who wants to run for the presidency, that is not the issue.

Who wants to zone presidency that is not the issue at all. The issue here is all of you, as a matter of duty, must be united. If you like zone presidency to the West if you are not united, can you win the election?” he queried.

Wike said it is obvious that the ruling APC is deficient in ideas and cannot provide solutions to the numerous challenges facing the Nigerian state.

According to him, the APC has ruined Nigeria and must be voted out of power.

“APC has finished Nigeria. There is nothing they can tell us now. They don’t have any other ideas. If they have any idea, they didn’t use it. Now is what we call injury time. All promises made now cannot be fulfilled. If they had made a promise for six years and didn’t fulfill it, is it the one and half years left that they will fulfill it?”

The governor said he and other stakeholders in the party remain eternally grateful to the former Kaduna State governor, who as acting national caretaker committee chairman of the PDP, prevented the party from being destroyed “by some extraneous forces behind Ali Modu Sheriff”.

“Leadership is given by God, and you see, when a party is in crisis, that is when you know who has leadership quality.

When our party was in crisis, when Ali Modu Sheriff was to be used to kill our party, he stood firm, committed, and showed braveness, and said look, I have no other place to go other than the PDP. So, he removed this party from the shackles of Ali Modu Sheriff,” Wike said.

He lauded Makarfi and other PDP leaders in Kaduna for ensuring the party remains politically relevant in the state.

The governor particularly applauded them for what he considers the remarkable performance of the PDP in the last local government election in the state, particularly at the grassroots.

In his response, Makarfi expressed profound gratitude to the Rivers State governor and his entourage for the visit.

He commended Wike and his colleagues for ensuring that the last PDP national convention was successful.

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Makarfi, who also acknowledged that Nigeria is bleeding, urged members of the PDP to collectively work together to rebuild the party first, and at the appropriate time, all stakeholders will meet to determine who flies the party’s presidential flag in 2023.

Wike was accompanied by Senator Sandy Onor, former minister of transport, Abiye Sekibo, former PDP chairman in Rivers State, Felix Obuah, and former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe.