The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has has.declared that Nigeria is not yet ripe for same faith ticket;/Just as he charged religious leaders against deception, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Wike said retaining presidency in the north is as bad Muslim-Muslim ticket, warning that he won’t allow any unscrupulous politician unleash violence under any guise in the State.

The Governor who spoke a St. Paul’s Catholic church Thanksgiving on Sunday, slammed leaders of Peoples Democratic party (PDP) for criticising Muslim-Muslim ticket, yet disregarded zoning in the party.

He explained that politicians involved in double-speak and try to deceive some gullible few, knew that they were insulting the sensibility of well-meaning Nigerians who want a united Country for national unity.

“You play on people’s intelligence; you say Nigeria is not ripe for muslim-muslim ticket, I agree.

“But Nigeria is ripe for presidency to remain in one zone? I mean, just look at the insult. You blow hot and cold”, he said.

According to him, those people who delightfully condemn the muslim-muslim ticket as wrong, should also know that Nigerians are also saying it is wrong to retain the presidency in the North after President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Most of you just sit there, you don’t ask yourselves questions. Somebody continues to sell this kind of cheap ideas. You don’t ask the person, I agree with what you are saying but look at what we are saying here.

“Your party wants the presidency to go to the same zone where president Muhammadu Buhari is coming from. Who is cheating who?”

“It is not now that politics have come, you want to come and tell the church a different story for your own personal interest. We have to be careful so that the church is not destroyed.

“Because, all of us, for example, we are Anglicans, I will not allow anybody, for his selfish interest to destroy the church of Nigeria. I will not allow that”, Wike said.

The Governor is a member of G5 Governors otherwise known as integrity group, while Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) States are also members of the group.

Recall that the aggrieved Governors who rejected their nominations to be drafted into the Campaign of the 2023 Presidential Candidate of Nigeria’s main opposition party, Atiku Abubakar, had been consistent in their demand for the removal of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, citing regional imbalance in PDP structure.

But, Ayu has insisted that he won’t step down till the end of his four-year tenure, even as the G5 made his resignation a precondition to support Atiku’s 2023 presidential ambition.

 46 total views