Our Correspondent

Daily Courier – Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has brokered a truce between the immediate past Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang and Senator Jeremiah Useni.

Wike was said to have met with the two Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) leaders in Jos, Plateau State capital on Wednesday.

A statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, quoted him as saying that his reconciliatory visit was necessary if the party was to reclaim State governorship position and defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 general election.

The reconciliatory meeting was reportedly held at the residence of Senator Useni.

Wike explained his visit was to end the friction between the two leaders noting that if the friction was not urgently resolved, it would affect the success of the party in future.

He said: “I do know that there will be by-election at the federal constituency and state constituency, and then again we are talking about the gubernatorial and national election next year. If the party is not united, no matter how bad APC is, there is no way we can win.

“And so, for me personal sacrifices can be made if you’ve fought wars for this country for the unity of Nigeria and today Nigeria is bleeding, not only Nigeria is bleeding Plateau too is bleeding.

“I have no apology to say that the people of Plateau State are waiting for you both to put the party together and then you will just take back Plateau State. Plateau state is a natural PDP State.”

Wike said it would be a disservice to the people of Plateau if the two leaders allowed the APC to remain in power because of a disagreement between them.

He said: “There are disagreements everywhere. There are disagreements in the party both at the national level. So, it is not a question of I am right.

“It is not a question of Jang is right, you are wrong or you are right, Jang is wrong. It is a question of, for whatever it takes, can we please, in the name of God, leave our personal interests and make our party move forward.”

The Governor implored Jang and Useni to make personal sacrifices to move the party forward not only in Plateau State, but in Nigeria at large.

He said the unity of the party was key at this crucial moment because APC moles within the PDP were trying to sow seed of discords.

“APC is trying to penetrate our party to make sure that the leadership of the party at the national level is being distracted through one or two persons, but we are making sure that does not happen. While we are doing that we also want to make sure that the branches are also united,” he said.

Jang thanked Wike for visiting Jos to broker truce between him and Senator Useni.

He further said that following the intervention of Wike, he and Useni had agreed to work together in the interest of the party.

He said: “We have agreed to work together to ensure the unity of PDP on the Plateau and ensure victory in 2023 election, not only governorship, all other elections, Federal or state.

“We want PDP to take its rightful position again on the Plateau and this is what we are going to work on. We want to thank His Excellency for coming to talk to us and we have agreed that we will continue from here.”

Useni commended Wike for finding time to come to Jos on a reconciliatory visit and assured the governor that they would henceforth forge a common alliance in the interest of the party.

He disclosed that he had been following the developmental strides of the Rivers Governor and urged other governors to emulate him.

“I have been following your activities and I always tell people that if we have governors like you, Nigeria would have been changed,” he said.