Dr. Dakuku Peterside, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and former Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has said despite having followership in their respective states, the G5 Governors cannot guarantee victory for the APC presidential candidate Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Petersfield revealed this in an interview with The PUNCH published on Thursday.
He accused the governors to be self-serving and driven by lack of patriotism.
“They are self-serving governors, so they must have some followers. Is their following sufficient to influence the overall outcome of elections in their respective states or the nation? I don’t think so.”
Singling out Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Peterside said Wike has seized the state’s commonwealth for political purposes, adding that “but he seems not to be conscious enough of the fact that the times have changed. Money has its place in politics, but it is limited.”
According to the APC chieftain, the G5 Governors were strange bed follows who at the end of the day cannot work together, adding that “local political circumstances will make it impossible for all of them to go in one direction.”
Sighting Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State he referred to as his good friend, the Peterside explained the governor must take cognisance of the local situation in his state before making any political decision.
“Obviously, his best bet is to remain with his party, the PDP. This applies to all others. Their leader, Nyesom Wike, is simply garrulous, boastful, and lacking in tact. He is a comedian. He may not be the proper person to use in assessing the political relevance, input, or value of G5 governors,” Peterside emphasised.
He blamed Wike for the violence that has enveloped Rivers State, further alleging that the government in the states do orchestrated them.
Referring to the Opobo crisis, Peterside said ‘it is infantile, deceitful, and pedestrian to allege that the APC sponsored violence against itself. It is simply ridiculous.
“Opobo was unarguably the most peaceful community in Rivers State until it was desecrated by this political desperado. All that transpired in Opobo on January 31, 2023, has been the well-known trademark of Rivers State-sponsored political violence led by the infamous garrison commander himself.
“In Rivers State, Wike and the PDP’s main strategies are repressions, intimidation, and violence,” adding that it is unthinkable that the APC would attack itself in the states as insinuated by Wike
While agreeing that the demand of the G5 Governors for PDP National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu should give way for a southerner as the party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar is from the North in respect to rotation principles in the party, Peterside, however faulted the timing and modus operandi of the agitators.
“It is a no-brainer that after the elections, if the PDP ever succeeds, Ayu would have to go to make way for a southerner to preside over the party.
“However, it is evident that what is going on now is somebody’s decoy to fight a personal battle for his selfish interests. If Wike was given the vice presidential ticket of his party, would he be agitating for Ayu to vacate the office now?
“These governors cannot think we are all fools. There are ways to engage if you are a true party man. This whole fight is about them and has nothing to do with the interests of Nigeria, Nigerians, or any other region.”