Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
Party chieftains, especially in the Southeast and Southwest, are said to be displeased with the former vice president for allegedly taking it upon himself to decide who will fly the party’s ticket in 2027 in the event that he (Atiku) wins the next polls.
Atiku had reportedly offered to back Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike for the presidency in 2027 when the two of them met on Thursday in the latest efforts to reconcile them after falling out over the presidential candidate’s decision to overlook Wike in his choice of running mate.
The Acting chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, yesterday led a delegation of BoT leaders to meet with the PDP vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, in continuation of moves to resolve the crisis between Atiku and Wike.
Only 48 hours before the former vice president’s alleged offer to Wike, he had promised PDP stakeholders in the Southeast during a meeting in Enugu that he would ensure that he was succeeded by a candidate from the zone if he won next year.
He said his love for Ndigbo was so great that in the 2011 and 2019 elections he chose Igbo men as his running mates. Atiku added that he had chosen another Igbo man in Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate for the 2023 election.
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“So, why do you say I will not give Igbo a fair chance to lead the country after my tenure as president? I did that in 2019 when I brought Obi and another Obi in 2011. And for 2023, I chose Ifeanyi Okowa, another Igbo man, as my running mate, even when Ohanaeze said no Igbo should contest for presidency under PDP,” he said.
He had implied in June, while rationalising his choice of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate, that it was informed by his desire to have someone who has what it takes to replace him at the appropriate time.
Atiku had reportedly offered Wike his support to become president if only he (Wike) and his supporters could work with him to win the coming election.
Wike currently enjoys the support of five of the 12 state governors elected on the platform of PDP, leaving Atiku with seven as the crisis rocking the party festers.
Although Wike, according to sources, prefers to have the PDP presidential candidate show commitments to the need to have some changes made in the leadership structure of the party before the 2023 general elections, the decision of the PDP flag bearer to offer Wike support in 2027 has angered many chieftains of the party, especially in the southern part of the country.
A former national vice chairman of the party, who craved anonymity, said: “This is not the time to start talking about who will succeed Atiku. It is a distraction that is worse than whatever Wike and his people have been doing before.”
Some PDP members in the Southwest who are miffed by the alleged offer to Wike perceive it as a threat to party cohesion.
A group in the party – PDP Volunteers Forum – declared yesterday that while “it is a good thing for Atiku to offer to do just one term as president and leave office in 2027, to openly concede the right of succession to Wike is not a good move at a time like this.”
“If not properly managed, the resultant anger from other zones of the southern region will harm our chances in the presidential election,” the group said in a statement by its convener, Comrade Gerald Arikawe, and Secretary, Comrade Ilemobade Oke.
The Nation also gathered that associates of the Rivers State governor are not particularly excited by the Atiku offer and have advised Wike against taking it seriously.
To them, the former Vice President may just be buying time with the offer in his desperation to secure Wike’s support for his ambition to win the 2023 presidential election.
A source in Wike’s camp said: “It is true that Atiku came to beg Wike again. He wanted Wike to urge his group to join the PDP campaign train. He threw up the card of supporting Wike in 2027.
“By this, Atiku is agreeing to do only one term if elected and leave office for Wike to succeed him. The same Atiku who has several times denied promising to do a single term of four years in office before now? Why the sudden change of mind? Is he not the same man who promised that Ndigbo would produce his successor?
“He has also being assuring the Southwest of the same thing. We have told Wike to beware of Atiku and his Greek gift. We are very sure this is a ploy to get our support and renege on all the promises after the presidential election.”
Atiku himself said yesterday that peace talks are continuing in the PDP to resolve the disputes with aggrieved members.
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“We have realised that we made mistakes and we are working to correct those mistakes, and we believe that Nigerians have trust in us,” he said in Gombe during the opening of a campaign office donated to him by a leader of the party in the state, Alhaji Jamilu Isiyaku Gwamna.
He said once the crisis was resolved, the party would have no problem winning the 2023 election.
The Acting chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Adolphus Wabara, yesterday led a delegation of the board to meet with the PDP vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.
The meeting, which took place at Okowa’s Abuja residence, also had Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Tanimu Turaki, Mrs. Inna Ciroma and former Kogi State governor, Ibrahim Idris, on the entourage.
Wabara, who spoke with newsmen shortly after the parley, said the meeting was part of the moves being made to resolve the party’s festering leadership crisis.
Wabara said: “We came as a special reconciliation committee of the Board of Trustees to visit our vice presidential candidate, Governor Okowa on the ongoing crisis, and also to proffer solutions to those issues.
“We were properly briefed by His Excellency the vice presidential candidate on these issues.
“The committee is enlightened now on the issues and we are moving forward. Like I said the last time, we have been going around and we met most of the governors.
“In the coming days, we will also meet with the principal, the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. From there, we will proceed to meet with Governor Wike.”
Wabara said the BoT team had held a similar meeting with four other governors in the camp of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike earlier.
He listed the governors to include Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
Wabara also hinted that the team had also met with the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, who is an Atiku loyalist.
The BoT chairman however said his team had not been able to meet with Governor Wike.
Wabara said the team of BoT leaders had what it takes to resolve the crisis, expressing optimism that the issues would be resolved sooner than expected.
Okowa, who also confirmed the meeting in a statement, said the PDP leaders have never relented in their efforts to resolve the crisis.
Okowa said: “We are talking amongst ourselves as governors realising that there are several leaders within our party from across the country. We have been talking with ourselves.
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“I believe that there is still a little work to be done, but a lot has been done. We are largely reconciled. There are still issues to be dealt with. That’s why you see some of the leaders of the party here today.
“We have had very useful discussions on what they could do and what we ought to continue to do as a party. But because the PDP is a very large party, we understand that yet there is some level of disagreement. But we will continue to stay in touch with ourselves to resolve the issues.
“Last Tuesday, on the 27th, we were in the Southeast. Our brother, the governor of Enugu State, hosted us very well. That’s a very positive step forward. We had very useful interactions with all our leaders in the Southeast and I think that is a great plus for us as a party.
“And I believe too that you are aware that we were in the Southwest where we were very well received by Governor Seyi Makinde and the stakeholders of the party.
“The few issues are still left on the table. I am sure we will come to discuss it and in the next few days, we are convinced that we will be largely reconciled.”
Okowa said he was sure that Governor Wike and the four other aggrieved governors in his camp would still work for the PDP in the 2023 elections.
He said: “They are not going to destroy their home. So, we will allow it together. I do believe that we will continue to talk with ourselves and resolve the little issues that are left.
“Where we are at the moment is quite a difficult situation for this country. The country has never been as divided as this. The level of insecurity has not been this bad.
“Our economy is worse hit we have never gone this bad. When you look at the issues of education, look at the state of affairs in the various states there are obvious issues. Atiku is the only one who is best positioned to truly deal with the issues of Nigeria at the moment.
“We don’t want those who are going to come to the office to learn on the job, because we are in a critical position. So we need a man who has the experience who also has the level of humility and calmness, who is detribalised and ready to keep Nigeria together.
“Because until we understand that we need to trust ourselves and work together as a nation, whether you are a Christian or Muslim, until we get to that level of understanding, we may not be able to take Nigeria out of where it is at the moment.
“I believe that Atiku Abubakar is the answer to Nigeria. He has committed himself very clearly in his document to Nigeria, ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’. Others are still thinking of what they are going to do. They have not been able to commit themselves so that we can truly see of a truth if they have a pathway to solving the problems of Nigeria.
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“Atiku is the man that is prepared for the job. He’s not going to learn on the job and he is one man that is acceptable across the six geo-political zones of this nation. There is no other person that has the kind of credentials that he has.
“Atiku is the right person, Nigerians should think deeply and let us be guided that we need to work collectively to take Nigeria out of the decay that we have found ourselves.
“It is important that Nigerians work and support the PDP to deliver the Nigeria of our choice as we move into the future.”
A Benue PDP chieftain, Chille Igbawua, is optimistic that Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom would not work against the interest of the PDP in the 2023 general elections regardless of his absence at the inauguration of the party’s presidential campaign.
Igbawua, who is a member of the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign, said in Abuja that Ortom would work for the success of the PDP in all state and federal elections, including the presidential election.
He said since Ortom himself is a PDP candidate for the Benue North West senatorial district in the 2023 election, working against the PDP would affect his own electoral fortune also.
The PDP chief recalled that Governor Ortom has consistently declared his acceptance of Atiku as the presidential candidate.
Igbawua appealed to PDP stakeholders in Benue not to misconstrue the governor’s criticism of the party leadership to mean a rejection of Atiku as presidential candidate.
He said: “Governor Ortom’s recent utterances may be misconstrued, but he is fighting for greater peace in the party.
“From my constant interactions with him, both at personal and political group levels, I am confident that Benue will deliver at all levels, including the Presidency.
“Perhaps I should say that we have the National Chairman, a former Senate President in the person of Chief David Mark.
“We also have three serving PDP senators, including Gabriel Suswam and a host of other stalwarts. There is no cause for alarm regarding PDP victory in Benue state.”
Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode said yesterday that a criminal investigation had begun into what he called funds misappropriation in the PDP.
Fani-Kayode, an APC member, said on Twitter that beneficiaries of the shared funds who have not retuned theirs should do so immediately.
He accused PDP’s officials and leadership of sharing money among themselves like ‘Father Christmas’.
“Never have we seen party officials sharing money amongst one another like Father Christmas as the leadership of the PDP has just done,” he said.
“I advise those on their NWC that have not done so already to return the money they collected, because a criminal investigation has already begun.”
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