Before the conduct of Saturday’s presidential primaries of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Executive Chairman of Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr Samuel Nwanosike, speaks on the likely outcome of the exercise and the way forward ahead of the 2023 general elections in this interview with LINUS ALEKE and BEN OGBEMUDIA

Why did the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, enter the presidential race?

Governor Nyesom Wike did not force his way to get to this level, he worked hard to get to this point in life. As we are all aware, he is a trained lawyer. He had been local government chairman, two times. He was former Chief of Staff to the Rivers State government, Minister for Education, and the incumbent Governor of Rivers State. I can tell you that he is a team man and a likable person. Governor Wike believes in the rule of law, he is working very hard to ensure that the poor are lifted out of poverty. We are happy that God has given us someone like Governor Wike. He is a party man, he had been at the party since 1999. He had defended the party on all fronts, he had supported the party financially and otherwise and that is why you see the delegates screaming his name. What is about to happen here (Convention) today is a referendum because the delegates are here to pay back to the man who had stood by the party in the time of trouble. People thought that PDP was dead and forgotten but Governor Wike and his colleagues, the PDP governors, came together to rebuild the party. That is why we are not too happy with those who used the party to pursue their Presidential ambitions in 2019 and thereafter, abandoned the party. And now they are back to hijack the party and dictate to us. No, that is not going to happen. Nigeria has come a long way in democracy, whoever thinks he can dictate for the party because of money is mistaken. Nobody pays anybody’s bill, we will not allow that to happen. We are tired of a few people always trying to control the destiny of over 200 million people. It is abnormal, it doesn’t sound normal to us. So, history has to be made today, Governor Wike is that history.

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Wike has not hidden his preference and desire for the party to elect its standard-bearer from southern Nigeria. If he loses to secure victory in the convention, will your state still support the party if a northern candidate emerges at the end of this primary election?

Governor Wike is a team man and he has said it before now that whether he wins today or not, even though we know that he will win by the grace of God, he will still work with whoever emerges. The time to rebuild Nigeria is now, the time to fight insecurity is now, and the time to revive our economy is now. The time to assemble our best brains at home and abroad to build the Nigeria that we are proud of is now. That is what we are talking about, therefore, as far as we are concerned, Governor Wike is the man of the moment. This is the time to rebuild Nigeria, PDP is the only credible alternative, and it is a national party with a solid structure across the federation. PDP is ready to win the 2023 elections. You can see how beautiful this place is, you can see that Nigerians across the globe are glued to their television sets watching to see what the outcome will be. We want a courageous leader, we want a leader that will tell truth to power. We want a leader that can confront these terrorists called Boko Haram and bandits. We want a leader who has done it before. Governor Wike has done it in Rivers state, he inherited a largely unsecured state but today, the state is one of the most secured and peaceful states in the whole of the federation. He came, united the people, and fought the criminals to a standstill. This unity is what we are lacking in Nigeria and we need a man like Governor Wike to unite Nigeria because we are divided as a country. He is a unifying factor, he has done it in Rivers state. Our state is a mini Nigeria where people of various ethnic nationalities live together in peace and harmony. In Rivers state, people who were not working together before now, are now working together because the Governor has created an atmosphere of unity and progress in the state. That is the man we want to manage our affairs in Nigeria.

Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and Borno State-born banker Mohammed Hayatu-Deen both perished their ambition to fly the flag of your party in the 2023 election and dumped the party over the allegation that the party’s primary is heavily monetized. Is this not going to affect the fortune of your party in the general elections?

My friend, former Governor Peter Obi did not dumb the party or perish his ambition based on moral principles, he just excused himself from embarrassment. How do you want to secure admission into Nigerian universities without writing the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), examinations? You must write JAMB first before you get admission into any Nigerian university. This is in line with prevailing laws in Nigeria. Is it not? Peter Obi, as far as we are concerned, did not write JAMB and he wants to go to the university. It is not possible, this is a man that does not have a delegate in his state. He is complaining that his fellow politicians in the state have outwitted him, politics is not simple. But bear in mind that if you must eat fried eggs, you must break the shell of the egg first. So, Peter Obi did not do his homework well, he thought that coming to tell Nigerians that he went to Harvard and Oxford, speak good English and make postulations that do not correlate with reality will convince Nigerians and sway the party, no. Our party has gone beyond that level, we tried him in 2019, what did he give the party in return? He abandoned the party and walked away. When he was confronted by the National Working Committee (NWC), of the party, he said that he went to study overseas. We want those who have suffered for the party to benefit from the party. And we have credible minds like Governor Wike, poverty does not know South or North, and insecurity does not know South or North. Governor Wike is not running this election because he is from the South, PDP threw the party ticket open for contest, but I can assure you that Governor Wike will win this election.

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What of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen who in his withdrawal letter to the party said that the PDP primary is obscenely monetised?

I can tell you that Mohammed Hayatu-Deen chose to go to media houses to speak big grammar and erect big billboards everywhere as if he is already going into the general elections. He forgot to go to Borno State where he hails from to campaign for the ad-hoc delegates that will come from the state. But he stayed away from doing that and at the end of the day, it dawned on him that this is not general elections but party primary. The new electoral Act has made it impossible for parties to have statutory delegates, I am supposed to be a statutory delegate as a Chairman of a local government area in my State but I will not be voting because of the new law. The truth is just that the Chicken has come home to roost. So, to avoid embarrassment in the election, they gave flimsy excuses and withdrew from the race. Governor Wike does not belong to that grade of a politician, he is a party man and has worked hard for this election. It is now time for the party leadership and members to pay him back for standing by the party in its darkest moment.

Away from the 2022 special convention of the PDP, what is your assessment of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the past seven years and still counting?

Disaster, destruction of lives and properties, gross mismanagement of our resources, as well as telling Nigerians mountainous lies. This should never happen to Nigerians again, never again can we have a government like APC. The party faithful themselves can no longer identify with the party in public because their performance has been nothing other than disaster, disaster, and disaster. Lies, lies, and lies.

The truth is just that the Chicken has come home to roost. So, to avoid embarrassment in the election, they gave flimsy excuses and withdrew from the race. Governor Wike does not belong to that grade of a politician