Wike Has Not Spoken On Quitting PDP, Nwuke Declares

Against the backdrop of recent visit of minister-designate and former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Ogbonna Nwuke, has said the former governor has not informed stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of his plan to dump the party.

Nwuke, who disclosed this in a chat with LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, said while Wike has not made any move to resign from the PDP, the leading opposition political party has also not taken any action towards suspending the minister-designate from its fold.

He said both Wike and Ganduje had shared relationship while they were serving as governors of their respective states, pointing out that the insinuations that the former Rivers State governor wants to join the APC does not hold water.

The former federal lawmaker said, “I believe the people strike friendship regardless of their diverse political backgrounds. You will recall that when Wike was running for president as PDP aspirant, he visited Ganduje in Kano. Ganduje is APC and Wike is PDP.

“When the Edo election took place, Wike led the PDP team and Ganduje among the APC team. So, what that means is that they share relationship and the decision of Wike to visit Ganduje who has just been made APC national chairman is not something that should raise eyebrows because they have shared relationships.

“Wike will be working in a federal government led by APC and he needs to be in good standing in terms of relationship with APC leaders. That does not in any way suggest as people are speculating that he is preparing to crossover to the APC.

“As we speak, stakeholders in Rivers State have not been briefed on the possible move from the PDP to the APC because when you talk about these things, you must talk about concrete information. All of these belong to the realm, in my view, of speculation.

“There may be differences in PDP, but Wike has not offered to resign from PDP. PDP has not moved against Wike. All of these insinuations, in my opinion does not hold water. We should wait, watch and see.”