During a state broadcast on Thursday, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, accused his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, of actively opposing power shift to the South and working against their party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Wike also alleged that Amaechi and the APC planned to disrupt the elections in Rivers, and he declared Friday, March 17, 2023, a public holiday to enable all workers to vote.
The governor also stated that Nigerians have vindicated his caucus, the G5 or Integrity Group, by electing Tinubu as the southern president-elect.
The G5 is made up of five PDP governors who backed power shift to the south after the eight-year tenure of the incumbent Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, who is from Katsina State in the North-West geopolitical zone. Atiku, the PDP flag bearer, lost in all the G5 states, while Tinubu won in Oyo, Benue, and Rivers.
Tinubu secured the highest number of votes in the presidential election, with 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku got 6,984,520 votes, and Obi finished with 6,101,533.