•Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
PORT HARCOURT – In what is clearly a major crack in the ranks of the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on the validation of his election by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday.
Wike’s congratulatory message, conveyed in a statement issued by his spokesman, Simeon Nwakaudu, is at variance with the position of his political party, the PDP.
The statement urged Buhari to use his victory to work for all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings, calling on the President “to work towards the unity of the country”, noting that the country is divided.
The PDP had completely rejected the judgment of the tribunal describing it as “provocative, barefaced subversion of justice and direct assault on the integrity of our nation’s justice system.” It said it would appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court. Atiku is yet to officially react to the ruling.
There are indications that the relationship between Wike and his ally, the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, has strained following the PDP’s inability to resolve the dispute over the minority leadership position at the House of Representatives as well as the just concluded Bayelsa State governorship primary of the party where Wike’s preferred candidate, Chief Timi Alaibe lost out.