Wike: I am the most qualified presidential aspirant

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, February 1, boasted that he is the most qualified person to become Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Wike, who spoke from Port Harcourt during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said based on his records; as Minister as well as the governor of the oil-rich state, he has the requisite experience to govern the country.

“For somebody of my kind and record, a governor and a minister; I don’t even see anybody who will tell me that he is much more qualified than me, I don’t think that is possible,” Wike said.

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“Assuming today I want to run for the office of the President, what quality do you think I do not have? Why do you think I cannot provide the right leadership for Nigeria to move forward?

“It is not good for anybody to say ‘my aspirant is the best of the aspirants. I don’t think so. All I preach is that people should talk on issues. Nigeria has a problem. If they have given you the opportunity, what are you going to do to make sure that Nigerians benefit?”

Besides the 2023 general elections, Governor Wike also spoke about the activities of the immediate past government in Rivers State.

He recalled that when he came into power in 2015; there was no handover note from his predecessor on the true state of affairs in Rivers.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has insisted that the administration of his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, abandoned a jet belonging to the state in Germany.

He also rejected claims by officials of the Amaechi administration that handover notes were left for his government and that he had pushed the state into debt.

The governor spoke about the state-owned aircraft; and other issues at a stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Tuesday.

He was reacting to comments attributed to a former Transport Commissioner in Rivers State, Tolofari George.

The former transport commissioner in the state was quoted to have accused Governor Wike of lying; when he said Amaechi, who is now Transport Minister, abandoned the state’s aircraft in Germany for 10 years.

According to reports, George accused Governor Wike of trying to malign and attack Amaechi with his comments about the aircraft.

But Governor Wike dismissed the comments; explaining that contrary to claims by George that there was a handover containing details about the plane, that did not happen.

“All of us are aware that there was no handover to this government,” he said.