By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has re-echoed his stance on the need to zone 2027 presidency to the southern region of the country.
Wike-led G5 had in 2023 insisted that in the spirit of justice and fairness, Peoples Democratic Party must give the presendential ticket to Southern part and not the North.
Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Wike during a meeting with members of his G5 and other strategic stakeholders of his party in Abuja, Monday, renewed his call for PDP to zone the presidential ticket to the South.
The stakeholders under the umbrella of Concerned Stakeholders of the PDP, commended Wike for contributing well for the survival of the party, insisting that the party will not die.
Key persons at the meeting were former Governors Ifeanyi Uguanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
Others in attendance include the National Secretary of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu; former Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda; serving and former federal and state lawmakers, some zonal and state executives of the party, among a host of others.
Wike said, “All of you here are those who are committed to the survival of our party not just on TV talking or on the newspapers talking but committed to the party at the various levels.
“Today, this country is stabilized because of the activities of the G5 Governors. You may like us you may hate us. The truth of the matter is if G5 did not take the decision we took, this country would have been in crisis. It doesn’t matter who the beneficiary was but the right thing had to be done and we still stand by that decision.
“If the party had listened to what we said, we won’t have been where we are today and we have continued to sound it to the party, let the constitution of the party and of the country be respected. That, as an opposition party, we cannot continue to act with impunity. No opposition party acts with impunity. Ours is to continue to placate people and bring them together, not to say that they should go to hell.
“Let us not allow greed, let us not allow ego to kill out party”.
He said the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, also contested for the Kebbi state governorship and that he retained his seat even after losing the election.
Corroborating, Dr Samuel Ortom, said he who pays the piper dictates the tune, which he challenged anyone in the country to tell Nigerians whoever has contributed to the growth of the PDP more than Wike.
He explained that the president understands that the country cannot be a one-party state which was why he appointed Wike into a very sensitive position as the minister of the FCT.
“For whatever reason, PDP made a lot of mistakes and we are where we are today”, he said.
