The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has applauded his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike for the role he played in the victory of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.
El-Rufai appreciated Wike for supporting power rotation to Southern Nigeria despite being in a different political party, Bellnewsonline.com learnt.
The Kaduna State governor on Thursday at the commissioning of the Eneka-Igbo Etche Link Road in the Obio-Akpo Local Government Area of Rivers State said the people of the state voted “quality over political sentiments.
He said “I want to, on behalf of our presidential candidate and our party, thank you and the good people of Rivers State for making the right choice of voting for Aiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“It is the first time since the Fourth Republic started in 1999 that the PDP was unable to get 25% in Rivers State. It shows that the people of Rivers State can differentiate and they know when to vote for quality and they voted for quality over political sentiments. We want to thank you for providing that leadership, Governor Wike.”
Recall that Wike was the leader of the five aggrieved governors who refused to support their party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar because they insisted on a power shift to the south.
El-Rufai, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) however advanced that he delayed his visit to Rivers State till after the election so political connotation would be attached to his visit.
He stated that “This country belongs to all of us and we have a duty to do all that it takes to make Nigeria an egalitarian, progressive and prosperous society.
“As you rightly pointed out, we may be from different parties but we share a few things in common: we are Nigerians and we believe in Nigeria, we are governors and we belong to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and in our forum, we try to learn from one another.
“We have a peer review mechanism in which we draw lessons. And for me, it is important to visit Rivers State to see what lessons we can learn from your efforts at infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
“I am here to extend our hand of fellowship to Governor Nyesom Wike and the people of Rivers State for us to continue to work together as brothers and sisters to make Nigeria a better place for everyone, no matter what religion, ethnicity, tribe, colour or creed.”