Two APC Governors, Umahi, Ayade Visit Wike In Port Harcourt

Two Governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday night, visited Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Umahi, Ayade Visit Wike

The two governors are Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Cross River State counterpart, Ben Ayade.

The duo was accompanied by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.

The visit is coming amid the worsening crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which Wike is a staunch member of.

Wike and Ikpeazu are power brokers in the PDP, who alongside three other PDP governors (Oyo, Enugu, and Benue) have for months demanded the removal of PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu as a precondition to support the party’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Recall that the two APC governors, Umahi and Ayade dumped the PDP in November 2020 and May 2021 respectively.

The two governors contested the APC presidential primary in 2022 but lost to Tinubu.

Wike and Umahi were former allies before the latter’s move to the APC. The two engaged in a war of words following the defection of the Ebonyi State governor to the APC.

Reports say Wednesday’s meeting was the third time Umahi would be meeting Wike in a space of six months, which now appears the foes may have perfectly sealed their reconciliation. The Ebonyi governor visited Wike in June and August 2022.

It is unclear what the details of Wednesday’s meeting are as none of the governors spoke to the press after their closed-door session.

It however appears there is an indication of a formidable political alliance ahead of next February’s presidential poll.

It is also not clear who Wike and his allies will support between Tinubu and Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi since they have not been seen to be campaigning for Atiku.

Meanwhile, Kanyi Daily reported that Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has withdrawn his support for Atiku

Ortom accused Atiku of dishonouring him as governor and working against the interest of the Benue people.

The governor’s withdrawal of support came after a group of elder statesmen in Benue, Minda Leaders of Thoughts, also withdrew their support for the PDP presidential candidate over alleged hate speech and profiling of Benue residents.

Ortom appeared to have been enraged over Atiku’s comments on the recent killings by suspected herdsmen in the state.

The Benue governor accused Atiku of working with Miyetti Allah, a herdsmen group with a militant arm.