Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has taken a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, saying Nigeria does not deserve an ethnic champion ahead of the 2023 general election.

Wike, who lost the PDP presidential primaries to Atiku in May, added that the country deserves a president that would have the interest of Nigerians at heart.

He said this at the 22nd National Women’s Conference organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) on Tuesday.

Wike was accompanied to the event held at Eko Hotels in the Victoria Island area of Lagos by a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose.

The Star recalls that Atiku, while speaking at the interactive session of the Arewa townhall policy dialogue in Kaduna on Saturday, said the northerners don’t need an Igbo or Yoruba as president in 2023 but “someone from the North”.

The former Vice President’s statement elicited reactions form Nigerians, including the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which said his words was “a decisive attack on our national unity”, adding that the PDP presidential candidate was desperate for power.

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However, Wike, while speaking on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to queue behind someone with vast experience in governance, who has the capacity to turn around the economy and confront insecurity.

“We are looking for a president that has the capacity and experience in governance, who can put food on the table for everyone and fight insecurity. That’s the person we are looking for; not some people who are talking about ethnicity,” the governor said.

Governor Wike has been at loggerheads with the PDP National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, over calls for the latter’s resignation.

The governor and his allies have since been calling for the removal of Ayu as a condition to campaign for Atiku ahead of the 2023 general election.

The governor and his loyalists maintained that Ayu should step down for a southerner.

The crisis bedevilling the main opposition party ahead of the next year’s general election took a new turn on Monday after Wike accused Ayu of collecting N1 billion from Atiku before the PDP presidential primaries held in Abuja.

The Star