By Bukola Olasanmi
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State says he would have won next year’s presidential election had he emerged as the flag-bearer of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said he has no political axe to grind with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He however maintained that the demand that the North should relinquish the position of the National Chairman of the PDP to the South, remains a panacea to the seeming intractable crisis rocking the party.
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Wike spoke when his political associates and Rivers elders led by the Chairman, Rivers Elders Council, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, visited his private residence in Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the State, to felicitate with him on his 55th birthday anniversary.
He recalled that precisely a year ago, Rivers Elders Council urged him to contest for the office of the President of Nigeria, pointing out that he heeded the advice and almost clinched the PDP presidential ticket if not for the alleged manipulation of the process.
He said: “I don’t regret I ran for presidency. In the name of God, I am happy to make Rivers State proud. I am happy as far I am concerned. If they had allowed it to be what it is supposed to be, I would have won the election. But it’s okay. It has happened.”