Lamido and cohorts behind PDP’s defeat in 2015 elections – Wike

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, berated the former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, over the statement credited to him on the current crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Lamido, who featured in a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, urged the PDP leaders to drop the ongoing effort to reconcile the Rivers governor and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The ex-governor, who stopped short of saying that Wike was not very strong in Rivers State as many people were made to believe, said nobody offended the governor.

However, in a statement issued by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, Wike described Lamido’s statements as disgusting and disdainful.

He added that the PDP chieftain has lost relevance politically.

Wike also accused Lamido and his cohorts of playing a significant role in the party’s defeat in the 2015 general elections.

READ ALSO: ‘Wike angry with Atiku over breach of PDP’s constitution,’ says VON chief, Okechukwu

The governor also denied that he boasted of over three million votes in Rivers state.

The statement read: ” We have observed with disgust the disdainful remarks made by the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido about Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, during his recent interview on Channels television.

“But as the leader of the PDP and good people of Rivers State, anyone who underrates the governor’s political pedigree or dares to ignore his influence in the state and beyond will be doing so at his own peril.

“We wish to remind Alhaji Lamido that governor Wike has never left anyone in doubt about his capacity to sway the voters in Rivers State in a direction that benefits the people and the state, in overall.

“While, we cannot deny that Alhaji Lamido has an inalienable right to his personal opinion, we wish to declare that he, however, lacks the right to malign governor Wike, whose immense contributions to the sustenance of the Peoples Democratic Party are not in dispute.

“It is rather appalling that at a time when concerted efforts are being made by lovers of true democracy and the unity of the party, to resolve some inherent contradictions plaguing the PDP, Alhaji Lamido and his cohorts, who have since lost their relevance in the polity, are busy creating friction and schism.

“When he speaks, Rivers’ people will listen, no doubt. Perhaps, Alhaji Lamido thinks Nigerians are suffering from selective amnesia to have forgotten in a hurry, the ignoble role he and his cohorts played between 2014 and 2015, that culminated in the defeat of the PDP in the 2015 general elections.

“We hope that he is not caught up in such a scheme again to cause a repeat of that history. Otherwise, if Alhaji Lamido has any modicum of conscience, he won’t be making disparaging comments about governor Wike, whom many have described as the pillar of the PDP since 2015.

 “We wish to state without equivocation that no well-meaning member of the PDP will describe governor Wike as ‘insignificant’ in the affairs of the PDP. With all modesty, only persons plagued by schizophrenia psychosis will ascribe any form of relevance to Alhaji Lamido, under whose leadership the PDP has woefully lost two governorship elections in Jigawa State in quick succession.

“Under Lamido’s watch, as a governor of Jigawa State in 2015, the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, scored a total 648,045 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Malam Aminu Ringim, who scored a total 479, 447 votes. Worst still, in 2019, governor Abubakar polled 810,933, while the PDP candidate scored 288,356.

“Such records depict that Alhaji Lamido cannot and does not have such a political following that will benefit the PDP. Those who want electoral victory for the PDP are not dampening the morale required for a political offensive at APC, but Alhaji Lamido is cracking the wall of unity badly.”

 

 

 

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