Secondus cannot lead PDP to 2023 electoral victory — Wike

The Governor of River State, Nyesom Wike, has said that the current leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Prince Uche Secondus cannot lead the party to victory in the 2023 general elections.

Wike, according to a statement issued by his media aide, stated this in an interview on national television in Port Harcourt.

He said the internal crisis that rocked the PDP recently was due to the failure of the party under the present leadership to effectively carry out its responsibility as a major opposition party.

The Governor, said, the PDP remained the only credible alternative party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He also accused President Muhammadu Buhari of supporting the position of APC members in the National Assembly on the electronic transmission of election results despite attesting publicly on how he benefitted from the card reader initiative introduced by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

Wike said: “If you go to the public and ask Nigerians if PDP is ready to take over power in 2023, if you take referendum, you will know that Nigerians are even waiting for PDP. But the fear of Nigerians is whether PDP is ready to reclaim power. So, people are concerned about it. Obviously, it is ripe for PDP to take over, but you must be prepared to take over power from APC in two years’ time.

“And we said with what we have now, it will be difficult to take over power in 2023 if there are no amendments. Leadership was the problem. The point is this, the current NWC, as it is today, cannot lead the party to victory. Nobody has said they have not done well, one way or the other, but we are talking about the challenges ahead.

That is why we are pushing for the party to have other people to lead the party and give it a different strength altogether. If you know APC, you know that you need a robust, determined leadership of the party to make sure you match them word by word, action by action.”