PDP Youths scold Wike over congratulatory message to Buhari

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has been berated for congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari over his victory at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.

The PDP youths under the aegis of PDP South South Youths Vanguard, also criticised Wike for describing the panel set up by the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) to resolve the Minority Leadership crisis in the House of Representatives which the governor described as the most corrupt in the history of the party.

The governor had on Wednesday congratulated President Buhari on the validation of his election by the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, urging him to use his victory to work for all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings, and also to work towards the unity of the country, as the country is divided. 

Reacting to Wike's position, the PDP South South Youth Vanguard, in a statement by its National Chairman, James Efe Akpofure, said that the governor was biting more than what he can chew.

He said that the governor is not bigger than the party, adding, "how can the leadership of PDP say that the party is heading to the Supreme Court and Wike who was approved by the party to fly its flag at the governorship elections, and a member of the party is congratulating the President, who benefitted from a faulty judicial system that has been gagged by the executive.

"Wike should know that he's not more than the party and as such, he should stop bad mouthing and ridiculing the PDP. If he thinks because he was the one that brought the National Chairman he can do whatever he likes, he should have a rethink.

"The party cannot take a position on issues and he's taking a contrary position by congratulating the President the whole world says manipulated the election that brought him on board."

The youths noted that for him to have come up with an issue that has already been done with, specifically, the issue of the PDP minority leadership in the House of Representatives, it shows that the governor does not have respect for the party.

The youth vanguard, however, called on the party leadership to assert its authority and put the governor where he rightly belongs. 

They also called on Wike to show respect for the party and stop dragging the name of the PDP in the mud.