Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said that with the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s President-Elect, the row over rotational presidency in the country has been settled.
Governor Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, said this on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Tinubu, who contested the presidential election of February 25, 2023 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, was declared the President-Elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the early hours of March 1.
According to Wike, who was in Oyo State to commission projects of his counterpart, Governor Seyi Makinde, who is seeking reelection in the March 11, 2023 State Elections in Nigeria, Nigerians deserve applause for supporting the return of power to Southern Nigeria.
Wike, at the commissioning of the Oyo State 5m-litre Aviation Fuel Dispensing Depot at the Ibadan Airport in Alakia, expressed delight that Makinde was one of those that backed power shift to the South after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from Katsina State.
He said: “I am happy he (Makinde) is one of those that made history by making sure that power shifted to the south.
“I have told people that those who fight for change, who fight for revolution may not be direct beneficiaries of that fight, but today, history has it that all of us now are aware that when power finishes from the South, it will go to the North.
“When it finishes from the north, it will come to the South.
“So, it does not need to be written in the constitution at all before it is implemented.
“And I thank Nigerians for standing firm to see that this issue materialise.”
The Eagle Online recalls that Wike and Makinde are five of the Governors elected on the platform of the PDP, who fought for the return of power to the South.
The G5, as they are known, insisted on the return of power to the South or for the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorcha Ayu, to quit once former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as the presidential candidate of the PDP.
This was to pave the way for a Southerner to lead the party into the election.
Also known as the Integrity Group, other members of the G5 are Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.