The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Monday mocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi.
Obasanjo had in a letter to Nigerians on Sunday declared support for Obi, noting that he was a better choice for the presidency when compared to Atiku, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Wike, who spoke at the flag-off of a road project in Emohua Local Government Area of the state, said something was fundamentally wrong if the former Vice President could not get the support of his former boss.
Abubakar served as Obasanjo’s deputy from 1999 to 2007.
The duo fell out towards the end of their tenure over allegations of corruption and high-handedness, among others.
Wike and four other governors – Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) – had demanded the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as a precondition for supporting Abubakar in the February 25 election.
He said: “I worked with somebody for eight years and we are using it as a campaign that when we were in office we did well. Then my boss is recommending another person, not me? Something is fundamentally wrong.
“Go and hold your boss who recommended another person other than you.
“I was praying that Obasanjo should not say anything. When I saw the letter last night, I was touched. If your principal cannot recommend you, then there is something fundamentally wrong.
“After all, you people went to lobby your principal to recommend you. It took your principal a long time — but he wrote a letter to all Nigerians (to support another candidate).”
