By afolabi

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the rumoured defection of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State from the opposition party.

The party has been engulfed by internal crisis occasioned by the outcome of its presidential election primary.

Wike has been seething since the PDP’s presidential primary that produced Atiku Abubakar as its flagbearer.

The governor was further incensed and the fall out of the primary election became aggravated after Atiku bypassed him and picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.

He has been hobnobbing with chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, a situation that’s unsettling the party faithfuls and has further amplified the belief that he may dump PDP or work against the party in 2023.

However, reacting to the developments, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said Wike is an important and loyal member of the party.

He refuted rumours of Wike’s impending exit from the party, noting that the governor had invested and harvested so much in PDP to think of dumping the party.

Ologunagba in a statement on Friday said “Governor Wike is an important member of this party. He is a man who has invested so much in this party. He has also harvested so much from the party; the party has also promoted him.

“He has said in so many fora that he is a committed party man and has remained loyal to the party since inception.

“Before the presidential primaries which he contested, he told the whole world that he was ready to respect the outcome of the elections. I have no evidence that he has changed his mind.”

-WithinNigeria