Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike said his meeting with presidential candidates of the ruling, the opposition parties, and the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was for the betterment of Nigeria.
Wike and some other stakeholders had met with the All Progressives Congress standard bearer, Bola Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party, Peter Obi in London.
Unveiling the outcome of the meeting, Wike who spoke when he arrived at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area on Friday said it was fruitful.
He was in the company of Governors Samuel Ortom(Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu(Abia).
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The former PDP presidential aspirant who arrived in the company of Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu said his consultation with the leaders was beyond partisan politics.
He added that they were only interested in a better country, and his topmost on their agenda during the London meeting was changing the fortunes of the country explaining that all was not well with Nigeria.
Wike said: “I can confirm that this is the first time as a team that we are meeting with presidential candidates. We met with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC and we met with our leader, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We met the presidential candidate of Labour Party. We also met with our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. For whatever it’s worth, consultation is ongoing.
“Whatever we are talking about, is for the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. It is not parochial and tied to one person or group of persons. We believe that with what is going on, it will be for the interest of Nigerians at the end of the day.”
Wike decried the situation where standard, training and competence had always been traded for mediocrity.
The Governor said leadership should not be about one individual and the interest of his family, but about the collective interest of everybody.
He said: “Consultation is still ongoing. Never mind some people who do not believe in the existence of this country.
“Leadership is not about you and your family. Leadership is about everybody. It’s unfortunate that we are in a country now where a man finishes eight years as a governor and brings his own son as a governor too and as member of National Assembly.
“It’s only in this part of the world that you can see that, when we are talking about poverty everywhere. These are people who do not mean well for this Nigeria.”
Wike also wondered why religion and ethnicity were used as the tenable identity to describe Nigerians when competence was required.
He said: “The only identity they have in this country is religion and ethnicity, nothing more. It’s either, I’m a Christian or I’m a Moslem, I’m a Fulani or I’m an Igbo. Nigeria cannot move forward except they think it will be them. That’s where we are.
