Atiku claims meeting Wike five times to resolve PDP crisis

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, claimed he had met with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to resolve the crisis rocking the party ahead of the 2023 general election.

Since Atiku emerged as the PDP presidential candidate, the opposition party has been enmeshed in a lingering crisis.

The crisis was worsened after the former Vice President named Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

Many had expected Wike, who came second in the PDP presidential primary election held in May, to be chosen as the party’s vice-presidential candidate after emerging as the preferred person by a committee set up by Atiku Abubakar himself.

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Wike and his allies, Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), known as G-5 or the Integrity Group, have since then been calling for the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition for them to campaign for Atiku.

The aggrieved governors insisted that it was unfair for the main opposition party to have the national chairman and presidential candidate from the northern region of the country ahead of the 2023 general election, saying Ayu should resign his position for justice, equity, and fairness in the PDP.

However, Atiku, while speaking at the ‘People’s Townhall’ series for presidential candidates and their running mates, organised by Channels Television on Sunday, said he met with Governor Wike in Nigeria four times and one time in London, the United Kingdom to resolve the crisis rocking the PDP.

“I have met Wike two times in Port Harcourt, two times in Abuja, one time in London, personally,” Atiku said.

Asked why the crisis has not been resolved, the former Vice President said: “It is not on my part. It is on the other side; I am waiting for him.”