Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers said that Nigeria was in a coma and that only the PDP could salvage the country.
The governor made the statement in Port Harcourt when a former Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Sule Lamido, visited to inform him of his (Lamido) intention to vie for the position of president in 2019.
The governor noted that the APC was a party of strangers with no knowledge of the intricacies of development.
“If you decamp to the APC, you are no longer corrupt, APC is a party of daylight deceit,’’ he added.
“I am happy that one of those who left to bring a messiah, has realised that the so-called messiah they brought is no longer the messiah Nigerians expect, PDP is the only hope for Nigeria,” he stressed.
He said that though the PDP made mistakes in the past, the party was the only platform with the commitment and patriotism to take the country out of the current situation.
Wike stated that the present political and economic situation in the country needed politicians with courage to deliver the country.
The governor noted that those who benefited from the PDP since inception till 2013 before defecting, were the same people sponsoring negative propaganda against the party.
He described Lamido as a committed and consistent PDP member who was courageous, adding that he also had the capacity to confront the APC.
Wike, however, called on all presidential aspirants to accept the verdict of the party at the end of the primary.
Earlier in his remarks, Lamido said that he was offering himself to take over in 2019 because the nation deserved to move forward.
The former governor said that if given the opportunity to lead Nigeria, he had the capacity to unite Nigeria and set it on the path of growth.
“I want to run because I feel I can do it, I have the pedigree, we stand to fight for democracy and the restoration of Nigeria,” he added.
Lamido stressed that he would work with other PDP leaders to transform Nigeria for the good of the people.
