August 25, 2022/CSL Research

In what seems to be a divide and rule game, the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his party has continued to hobnob with Governor Nyesom Wike in bid to win his support for Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

This is coming amidst the ongoing rift between Governor Nyesom Wike and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. We recall that Governor Nyesome Wike, having lost his bid to become the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and possibly that of the vice presidential slot, has remain disenchanted and at loggerheads with the leadership of the party.

Governor Nyesom Wike being the current governor of Rivers State and an influential member of the Peoples Democratic Party remains a critical factor that would be difficult to jettison by Atiku Abubakar in his presidential race.

According to a punch news report, contrary to some online reports that the duo met in France on Tuesday, multiple sources confirmed to The PUNCH on Tuesday that Tinubu and Wike met in London, the United Kingdom, on Monday as part of moves to work together ahead of the election. It was gathered that some APC and Peoples Democratic Party governors also attended the crucial meeting.

Thisday news report also stated that the former vice presidential placeholder for the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, yesterday, confirmed that the much-talked about pact between Tinubu and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike was true and real. Masari disclosed that the two men agreed to work together without Wike necessarily leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said Wike would work for the emergence of the APC candidate as president in next year’s election but did not need to defect to the party. Masari explained that the kind of understanding Tinubu and Wike had was such that would not affect the place of former governor of the state and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi. Masari spoke in an interview with BBC Hausa Service from London, where the talks between the APC presidential candidate and the Rivers State governor, allegedly, took place. Masari, while affirming that the arrangement with Wike would not affect the APC leader in Rivers State, Amaechi, said, “The meeting was basically on the 2023 presidential election and, by God’s grace, we are going to work with His Excellency, Governor Nyeson Wike; he will assist and we are going to win the election with ease, by the will of God.”

Given the fact that to be elected as president, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states and considering the emergence of a third force with the increased likelihood of vote split especially in the south and north central geopolitical zones, the need for alliances cannot be overemphasized. We think that Governor Nyesom Wike remains a critical factor having been able to deliver 473,971 votes for the Peoples Democratic Party against 150,710 votes for the All Progressive Congress in the 2019 presidential election. Beyond Rivers State, he apparently remains influential in the Peoples Democratic Party as the likes of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and some other PDP stalwarts appear loyal to his faction.