London—A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, on Wednesday alleged that there is a pact between the APC’s presidential candidate, Tinubu, and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike in respect of the 2023 presidential election, according to reports by Arise TV.
This is after weeks of speculation and moves shrouded in secrecy allegedly by Wike following his defeat to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the PDP’s presidential primary in June this year.
Masari who was the former vice presidential placeholder for the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, disclosed that the two men agreed to work together without Wike necessarily leaving his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In an interview with BBC Hausa Service from London, Masari maintained that talks between Tinubu and Wike 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 the 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.
