2023: Deliver Kaduna to PDP, Wike challenges Makarfi

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has challenged former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi to deliver the state to the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023.

Mr. Makarfi, in an interview on Channels Television, asked Mr. Wike to be subtle in his anger.

The former governor was referring to different meetings Mr. Wike held with some of the leading presidential candidates during his next political move.

Governor de Rivers, along with other PDP governors, held separate meetings with APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and Labor Party and PDP governors Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar in London last week.

Mr. Makarfi warned Mr. Wike against making decisions out of anger and stressed the need for reconciliation within the party.

It was his interview that Mr Wike was reacting to when he told the former Kaduna Governor to stop talking about him and focus on delivering Kaduna State to the PDP.

He made the comment during the inauguration of the sand filled area and estate development at Ogbum-Nu-Abali, Port Harcourt, on Tuesday.

Kaduna State is currently governed by the APC.

Before discussing the project, Mr. Wike referred to Mr. Makarfi's interview and challenged him to take it upon himself and "make Kaduna fall into the hands of the PDP".

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"I don't want to hear excuses that they rigged the election. That's what I told everyone," he said expanding his demands beyond Kaduna "In Kano, make sure PDP wins. In Niger, make sure PDP wins, in Jigawa, make sure PDP wins. If you win. This is the operation that delivers your state. Don't use not anyone's state to add up."

Mr. Wike went further to chastise politicians who leave their base, travel to another state to receive defectors.

Mr. Wike told the "indicted politicians" to go home and work to increase the party's numerical strength in Rivers State.

The best way to show his ability to provide votes for the party, he said, will be to provide votes from polling places, wards and the state.

On the project, the governor said his administration had created a new city in the state capital from a swampy mangrove that was once a hiding place for criminals and kidnappers.

It boasted of providing water, electricity, sewage, among others.

Governor Ífeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, who conducted the inauguration, described Mr. Wike as an intense leader, famous for his legendary talent for executing projects and his relentless crusade for the fundamental freedoms as well as the economic interests of the people of Rivers State.

The entire sand-filled area measures 15.4 hectares, filled with approximately 432 sand cubes and has five exit gates - initially marshy terrain with hard marine clay and mangrove woods .

The land involves land reclamation, shoreline protection, construction of a road network with streetlights, drains, power plants, after reticulation facilities.

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