Amid the reactions trailing the defection of Governor Dave Umahi from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congressive, Governor Nyesom Wike has suggested that one more governor will leave the party.
“I can tell you, there is one PDP governor that will leave,” he said Wednesday during an appearance on Politics Today.
Governor Wike, however, declined to give the name of the governor or when he will leave the party.
Just like Umahi, he expects the governor to “come up with another excuse” when giving reasons for his defections.
“The point is that these are the people who have been playing anti-party (politics). They will be romancing with the APC in the night and coming out to PDP in the day time,” he said.
“My problem with our party is that when you speak the truth, they want to crucify you. I have raised this issue severally and severally and severally.”
Umahi’s defection has created a political storm, sparking angry reactions from the PDP and cutting down the number of governors the party has in the South-East to two (Abia and Enugu). The APC controls Imo and now Ebonyi, while APGA holds sway in Anambra.
Governor Wike believes that people attribute too much power to governors when the real power lies with the people.
Citing the 2019 victories PDP recorded over incumbent APC governors in Bauchi and Adamawa, he downplayed the impact of Umahi’s defection on future elections.
‘We didn’t have party structure in Adamawa, we won because the people spoke. We didn’t have party structure in Bauchi, we won.
The people spoke,” he said.
“As I speak to you today, performance is what gives any party, assuming a ruling party in that state, an advantage to win a future election. It is not because you are the governor.”
The Rivers State governor said Umahi, who recently defected to the APC had always been disloyal to the PDP.
He stated that during a particular virtual meeting of PDP governors, Umahi boasted that he helped the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to garner votes in the 2019 presidential election.
The Rivers governor added, “All of us are aware that Governor Umahi has been romancing with APC for long. We had a virtual meeting of PDP governors. I have never seen that in my life.
“Governor Umahi in that meeting, to the surprise of many governors, said ‘there is nothing anybody can do to stop me’. I promised President Buhari I would give him 35 per cent votes’.
“I never knew that people never voted in Ebonyi; that votes were allocated and Governor Umahi determined who gets what percentage.”
