By Abiola Olawale
The Rivers State Government, on Monday, said Governor Nyesom Wike was yet to inform anyone of rumoured plan to run for president in the 2023 general elections.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Paulinus Nsirim came out to make the clarifications as posters, where Wike appeared, seeking support for a purported 2023 presidential ambition have gone viral.
Nsirim said the Governor hasn’t made any official announcement as regards contesting for any election yet.
The New Diplomat checks reveal that campaign posters of Wike are being sighted on the streets of Abuja, with “Rescue Nigeria 2023 from insecurity, poverty, bandits, and killings”, inscribed on some of the posters.
But Nsirim has disassociated the Governor from the posters, claiming that the Governor is only focused on rescuing River State.
Nsirim in the statement said, “For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Wike has not informed anyone that he is interested in the Presidency of this country. This is certainly the handiwork of mischief makers threatened by the Governor’s rising political profile. We are amused that political detractors will stop at nothing to see how they can distract Governor Wike’s visionary leadership.”
Wike, 57, is a Nigerian Politician and lawyer. He was elected into office as Rivers Governor in the 2015 gubernatorial election and was re-elected again in 2019 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Governor is considered to be bulwark of the PDP, especially in the South-South where he holds sway, controlling an oil-rich state with formidable war chest to tilt dynamics for the opposition party as political stakeholders in the country have continued with their schemings ahead of 2023.
