Bukola Saraki, a former head of the Nigerian Senate, has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors for wanting to oust Nyesom Wike of Rivers State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He referred to their most recent visit to the governor as a mistake and emphasised that Wike was still an actual PDP member.
Babajide Sowon-Olu of Lagos, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State are three governors from the ruling party that visited the governor of Rivers State at his home on Friday.
Ayodele Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti State, was also visited by the delegation.
The visit was related to rumours that Wike would think about joining the opposition due to internal conflicts and his failure to win the party’s presidential nomination.
Speaking on the situation in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on Saturday, Saraki denied the rumours of a defection, noting that the governor of Rivers State remained a formidable opponent.
He hinted at the steps being taken to resolve the post-presidential primaries crisis currently rocking his party.
He also lambasted the ruling party for its failure to provide solutions to the country’s myriad of problems.
He said: “Wike is an important member of our party and I am very confident that in no distant time, we will sit down and address all the issues. There is no doubt about it that he has cause to feel the way he does, but there are better ways by which issue like this can be resolved.
“The good thing is that we are all talking to one another. We are on top of the situation and PDP will reunite and forge ahead to win the next elections. I assure you that PDP will definitely resolve its family issue that it currently has”, he said.
“The fact that some APC governors went to see their colleague, trying to capitalise on what they think is an issue is a gross miscalculation. At the end of the day, their visit is going no where.
“The APC governors know that it is this kind of a crack they need to latch on. Fortunately, we are not going to give him to them because the election ahead is too important.
“The destinies of millions of Nigerians are too important and even bigger than any party or individual. I appreciate that, all our stakeholders appreciate that and Governor Wike himself appreciates that”, he added.
