Wike: What happened in Saraki’s house after I recommended Obi as Atiku’s running mate

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers state, has described what happened at the home of former Senate President Bukola Saraki after he nominated Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi as running mate to former Vice President and PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in the run-up to the 2019 general elections.

In response to rumors that he worked against Obi in the February 25 presidential election, he spoke openly about this.

Recall that during the presidential election, Rivers was won by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

On Wednesday, Wike said, “I never told Rivers state people to vote for a candidate, I told them to vote for the unity of Nigeria,” in a media interview with a few journalists in Port Harcourt. Peter Obi’s assertion that I spoke out against him offended me. Sincerity and gratitude are lacking among people. As for Peter Obi in 2019, I was a member of the committee that selected him to be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s running mate. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar gave us these names when we met at his home, and Peter Obi was our choice.

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“While we were at (Bukola) Saraki’s house in the middle of the night, I got into arguments with people like Ike Ekweremadu, my own friend, and the governor of Ebonyi state. They asked me why I should pick Peter Obi and why I should vote for the candidates.

“Did he publicly state that Governor Wike was the one who backed me to run for vice president?

“When he claimed I spoke out against him, it is unfortunate because I never said—and no one ever heard me say—’Don’t vote for Peter Obi.'” You cannot claim that I came out against you even if that is the case and I didn’t support you. I never agreed to anything with you in the first place.