The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has advised a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, to ensure that the Peoples Democratic Party wins all elections in his state.
Wike said it was better for Makarfi, a former acting national chairman of the PDP, to focus on the 2023 general elections and how he would ensure victory for the PDP in his state, instead of joining to make uncomplimentary remarks about him.
Wike spoke on Tuesday at the inauguration of the sand-filled area and estate layout in Ogbum-Nu-Abali, Port Harcourt, which was performed by Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
He said, “This morning, I was watching Channels TV, I saw the former national acting chairman of the PDP, Makarfi, and he said he is very close to me. I don’t know how close he is to me.
“Somebody who said he is close to me, I don’t know when last we spoke. I have never spoken to him in the past five months.
“So, if you are close to somebody politically, there is no way in five months you won’t have spoken to the person; isn’t it?
“He said, ‘Wike, you are sabotaging other people.’ I don’t know who says the other people have not. What I want to advise Makarfi is, look, you have a job, make sure the PDP wins in Kaduna State. That is your job, leave Wike alone.
“Take it upon yourself that Kaduna falls to the PDP. I don’t want to hear excuses that they rigged election or they didn’t rig election.
“That is what I have told everybody. In Kano, make sure the PDP wins. In Niger, make sure the PDP wins, in Jigawa, make sure the PDP wins. If you win, then see whether the PDP wins here or not. It’s ‘Operation deliver your state.’ Don’t use anybody’s state to add up.”
The governor also urged politicians in the state who delight in joining the company of politicians of other states to receive their defectors into the PDP to return home and work to increase the numerical strength of the party in the state.
According to him, the best way to show capacity to deliver votes for the party will be to deliver votes from the polling units, wards and the state.
He said, “It’s not to go to Abuja and begin to gossip, say all kinds of things. Come home and mobilise, let us see the capacity you have. It is operation deliver your poling units, operation deliver your ward, operation deliver your local government. That is what politics is all about.”
