Published January 26, 2021
Olalekan Adetayo and Dennis Naku
Presidential campaign posters bearing the name and pictures of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, have surfaced in the Federal Capital Territory , Abuja .
Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, is serving his second and final term of four years as the governor of the South – South state .
Our correspondent sighted two different types of the posters in Abuja , on Monday .
They were posted in strategic locations on the popular Herbert Macaulay Way , in the Central Business District of the FCT .
Some were pasted on the fence of a building that served as the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Office , in 2015 and 2019 .
Some others were seen pasted close to the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and also opposite the Nigeria Defence College popularly called War College .
According to inscriptions on the posters titled : “ Rescue Nigeria 2023 ,” they were produced by the National President of Rescue Nigeria Movement , Jingiri Bala Mato.
The posters which bear the logo of PDP read, “ Rescue Nigeria from insecurity , poverty , bandit killing. Support Chief Barr Nyesom Wike for President , Federal Republic of Nigeria 2023 . ”
Our correspondent noticed that the governor ’s first name, Nyesom , was wrongly spelt as “ Nyesm ” on the posters .
One of the posters bore the picture of the governor in the traditional South South regalia complete with bowler ’s hat to match while another had a picture of him fully dressed in an outfit common with northerners .
There have been speculations that Wike may be considering a joint presidential ticket with his Sokoto State counterpart , Aminu Tambuwal, for the 2023 election .
Tambuwal , who is also serving his second and final term as the governor of Sokoto state on the platform of the PDP , was one of those recently invited by Wike to inaugurate projects in Rivers State . Only last week , Wike pledged a donation of N 500m to victims of a market fire in Sokoto State .
Reacting to the development, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications , Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, dissociated the governor from the campaign .
While urging the public to discountenance the information contained in the posters , Nsirim said , in a statement , “ The attention of Governor Nyesom Wike has been drawn to campaign posters bearing his name which flooded some major streets of Abuja today.
“ For the avoidance of doubt , Governor Wike has not informed anyone that he is interested in the Presidency of this country .
“ This is certainly the handiwork of mischief makers who are threatened by the Governor ’s rising political profile . We are amused that political detractors will stop at nothing to see how they can distract Governor Wike ’s visionary leadership .”
He explained that the governor was currently preoccupied with delivering on the mandate given to him by the people of Rivers State and would not be distracted by the antics of political jobbers .