The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is not the custodian of votes in the state.
Wike had previously stated that he would never support Atiku’s presidential campaign in 2023.
He and five other PDP governors were dissatisfied with Atiku and the party’s leadership after he lost the presidential primaries.
The governor accused Atiku of endorsing Iyorchia Ayu for the position of National Chairman of the party.
Wike and other party governors have stated that a specific region cannot produce the PDP’s National Chairman and presidential candidate.
The governor also accused Atiku of sidelining him in the constitution of his presidential campaign council.
Reacting, Atiku said Wike can’t manipulate votes in Rivers State following the introduction of electronic voting.
Speaking through the spokesperson of his campaign council, Dino Melaye, he said it’s wrong for Wike to think he would fail in Rivers State.
He stressed that the governor can’t decide who the people of the State would vote.
“It’s very fallacious for you to think that because that governor is not with your candidate he will lose the State.
“I will cast your mind back to a day when you sat down and wrote result for a State. We are not in that era any longer. With the advent of BVAS and electronic transmission of results, in Rivers State for example, Governor Wike is not the custodian or he is not to appropriate the votes of Rivers.
“If you now go to elections as it’s now with electoral reforms, the grassroots matters; the electorate matter; the youth and women matter. That is why Atiku is speaking directly to the conscience of the electorate,” Melaye told Channels TV.
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