Governor Nyesom Wike of River State has said former presidential aspirant on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi does not stand a chance of winning the party’s presidential primary if he had remained in the PDP.
Wike, who harped on integrity and character, asked how Obi would have won the presidential primary.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV political show, monitored by our correspondent, Thursday, Wike wondered why Obi would have left the party three days before the PDP’s presidential primary.
He said, “What is he seeing that he did not see for how many years ago, 72 hours to the election, it’s now he’s seeing. A Vice presidential candidate for the 2019 election. Someone can be the presidential candidate and still abandon their party and mess up.
“Who are those people that make PDP lose the election? Can you trust them you give them a ticket? It will not be funny enough to do something that will finish PDF.
“When we talk about character, it’s an issue. You can be the best economist, but without character, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
He, however, said Obi’s decision to leave the PDP was not surprising to him, because he hasn’t won any election since he left his former party – All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Wike said, “Peter Obi leaving the party is not surprising to me and I know he knows no way he would have won the presidential primaries. Forget about what his DG is saying about money.
“Those that joined this party since 1998, we’ve never left the party. If it’s this party, it’s in our blood. It doesn’t matter what problems we have in the party, we have to be inside it to settle the problems.”
During Obi’s meeting with the former governor of Kano, Rabiu Kwankaso, leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Wike wondered if Obi would now become a vice-presidential candidate for Kwankaso.
He said, “Integrity is very important in what you’re doing. There must be integrity. There must be a character, and I’ve told all delegates that they must be very careful.”