Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has said the current National Working Committee ((NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Prince Uche Secondus cannot lead the party to victory in the 2023 general elections.
He said such realisation led to the quest for replacement of the PDP’s national leadership structure insisting the internal rumbling recently witnessed in the party was following the failure of the NWC to effectively carry out its responsibility as an opposition political party.
Speaking on a national television in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Wike said the PDP remained the only credible alternative expected by the people to take over power in 2023.
He 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 take over power. So, people are concerned about it. Obviously, it is ripe for PDP to take over, but you must be prepared to take over.
“And we said with what we have now, it will be difficult to take over power in 2023 if there are no amendment.
“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 to give it a different strength altogether.
“If you know APC, you know that you need a robust, determined leadership of the party (PDP) to make sure you match them word by word, action by action.”
Wike said anyone, who loved the PDP and meant well for the party would adhere to the resolutions reached after the intervention of Governors, Board of Trustees and elders to douse brewing crisis in the party.
The Governor dismissed insinuation he was opposed to the current NWC because he is nurturing a presidential ambition.
He insisted his primary preoccupation was to see how the PDP could be better positioned to win the 2023 general elections.
On the issue of the amended Electoral Act, the Governor said Nigerians were expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to veto the bill over the rejection of electronic transmission of election results by APC members in the National Assembly.
The Governor accused Buhari of supporting the position of APC members in the National Assembly despite attesting publicly he benefitted from the introduction of a card reader device by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He stressed the electronic transmission of results remained the centre of conducting credible and transparent election, saying it behoved the President to bequeath to Nigerians a credible electoral process as he had promised.
The Governor bemoaned the exclusion of oil producing state governments in the implementation and administration of the 3% oil revenue recommended for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Act.