Wike, Ikpeazu Will Support Tinubu In Presidential Election, Says Orji Kalu
The Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, has said some aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors that form the G5 or Integrity Group will support the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in Saturday’s election.
Specifically, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his counterpart of Enugu State, Okezie Ikpeazu will throw their weight behind the former Lagos governor, Kalu said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Monday.
The G5, which includes Wike, Ikpeazu and three other state governors, have taken a stand to abstain from supporting the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
“Tinubu is well liked by the North and is from the South-West and is going to get a [sizable] vote in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Anambra and Enugu. And he’s going to have the support of Governor Wike of Rivers State, so we’re on track.
“My governor here, Okezie Ikepazu, will also support Tinubu. My senatorial district is going to give Tinubu the vote. The puncher to give the 34, 35 percent to be on the ballot,” he said.
Source: Channels
JUST IN: Atiku is North’s candidate, says ACF chieftain
A chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Muhammad Yakubu, has said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, is the endorsed candidate of the north for Saturday’s presidential election.
The PUNCH reports that the ACF through its Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu, had, in a statement on Sunday, urged northerners and Nigerians to vote the candidate of their choice in the Saturday election.
The ACF had urged Northern voters to look out for a presidential candidate with clear and objective party manifestos and the character and track records of the candidates.
However, while addressing a press conference at the 11A Sokoto road Secretariat of the ACF in Kaduna on Monday, Yakubu, who is the National Assistant Auditor of the Forum, said from recent statements by notable northern elders such as Alhaji Zango Daura, Prof. Ango Abdullahi among others, the region had settled for Atiku for the poll.
The ACF chieftain, who is also the Convener, Atiku/Okowa Patriots, said the region was supporting Atiku not because he was a northerner but because he had the capacity and experience to take the country to the promised land.
Source: Punch
I won’t join APC regardless of governors’ support for power shift – Wike
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has reiterated that he would never join the All Progressives Congress (APC), despite its governors’ commendable stance on zoning the Presidency to the South.
The governor described the insinuations that he would defect to the APC as speculative, maintaining that he remains an unrepentant member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Wike stated these at the 114th quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, the State capital on Monday.
He informed the council ahead of Saturday’s presidential election, that he will be voting for only the candidate that can guarantee the unity of the country.
“I am not a member of APC and I will not be. But, they have made me recognise that they are the heroes of this country. The governors came out to say look, for the unity of this country, the Presidency should go to the south. The governors of APC said the way the county is, they want the unity of this country and therefore, the Presidency should go to the south.
“They could have as well said no, it doesn’t matter. As governors, we have the number. We can still say it should remain where it should remain. But they didn’t do that. They said the way we are seeing this country we want everybody to be together.
Source: The Sun