Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has refused confirm having a presidential ambition.

It’s been reported that the former Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is considering Wike as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election.

Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, Wike dodged a question on a possible presidential ambition.

When asked if he was running for president, Wike replied: 

“When is the time limit within which a person can declare to run or not to run? Is there a particular time limit that you can declare (ambition), so that let it not be said that ‘if you don’t declare tomorrow, you may be late?’”

“So, if I want to declare to run, I must do it before Channels Television; I will not do it before my people?” He asked.

“I’ve always told people that everybody has their own strategy. If I want to run for election, I have my own strategy. If you want to run for election, you have your own strategy. No doubt, people believe that by my performance, I am likely to run. There is no doubt about the belief of the people. But if I want to run for election, everybody will know that I want to run; I will tell Nigerians that today, I am declaring that I want to run for election.”

Wike said before announcing his intention, he will have to sit and review everything with his team.

“So, it is when we have sat down and reviewed everything, and we believe that ‘yes, we think we can do this; we think we cannot do that.’ That is the way I operate. I don’t operate in isolation,” he said.