After weeks of speculation and moves shrouded in secrecy, former vice presidential placeholder for the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, yesterday, confirmed that the much-talked about pact between Tinubu and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike was true and real.
Masari disclosed that the two men agreed to work together without Wike necessarily leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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Masari spoke in an interview with BBC Hausa Service from London, where the talks between the APC presidential candidate and the Rivers State governor, allegedly, took place.
He said Wike would work for the emergence of the APC candidate as president in next year’s election but did not need to defect to the party.
Masari explained that the kind of understanding Tinubu and Wike had was such that would not affect the place of former governor of the state and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.
The revelation came as President Muhammadu Buhari, in an attempt to allay the fears of some members of the ruling APC, said he would not betray or undermine his party by supporting candidates other than those fielded by APC in next year’s general election.
Buhari said this in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
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Masari, while affirming that the arrangement with Wike would not affect the APC leader in Rivers State, Amaechi, said;
The meeting was basically on the 2023 presidential election and, by God’s grace, we are going to work with His Excellency, Governor Nyeson Wike; he will assist and we are going to win the election with ease, by the will of God.
On whether Wike would defect to APC to work for Tinubu, Masari said;
This is because Wike is a big politician, a governor and has control in some other states apart from his state. He is good to the people and has associated with his people peacefully. By the grace of God, he will be of help to us.
