Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has urged President-elect Bola Tinubu to include some high-ranking opposition figures in his administration, including Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
Umahi made the remarks on Monday at the inauguration of the remodeled Community Secondary School, Okoro Nu Odo, in Rivers State’s Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA).
The governor emphasized the role Wike, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, played in the election of Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate known as Asiwaju, and his running mate Kashim Shettima.
“God, directly and indirectly, made Governor Wike very much available, and so there is no way APC can conclude about the success of the election without mentioning Governor Wike,” the Ebonyi governor said.
“And we will be asking Asiwaju/Shettima to please bring Governor Wike to the core administration of the Federal Government. He has a lot to offer for the unity of the country.”
Politics, according to Umahi, should be put on hold following the general elections to allow for national unity. “It’s about moving this country forward.” It’s about reuniting our people,” he added.
Umahi also thanked the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, for “working for” Tinubu’s election in a seemingly ironic remark.
The remark comes amid an ongoing crisis in the PDP, which has seen Wike and four other PDP governors demand Ayu’s resignation in order for them to support PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar in the run-up to the election.
Their complaint was that the party’s zoning principle resulted in a lack of “fairness, equity, and justice.”
“I want to also thank very highly the suspended chairman of PDP,” Umahi said in an apparent jab at Ayu‘s recent sanction by the Benue State chapter of his party for alleged anti-party activities.
“He did very well because he had accepted to resign, it would have been very difficult for the APC. So, he’s our man and I commend him very well.
“And I’m begging Wike – they should lift his suspension, so that he can suspend many more of your leaders.
“We love what he has done, and so we commend him. And I think Asiwaju must know that he worked for him and must also integrate him in the next administration.”
