The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Atiku Abubakar have committed to work towards the victory of the party’s presidential candidate in the general elections of 2023.
As seen by InsightnaijaTV, Governor Wike and a few of his allies in his camp have decided to stick with the party and work for Atiku’s election victory.
This decision was made after an emergency meeting conducted behind closed doors on Sunday at the governor’s lodge in Abuja for Rivers State.
According to a PDP National Working Committee member who talked to BusinessDay under the condition of anonymity and denied the rumors, none of the current or previous governors were leaving the party.
All of the party leaders, he claimed, had agreed to cooperate in order to overcome any internal conflicts and help the party’s presidential nominee win the 2023 elections.
Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State are present at the meeting.
Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross River state, Gabriel Suswam, a former governor of Benue state, Olusegun Mimiko, a former governor of Ondo state, and Seriake Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa state, are also present at the conference.
Others include Ibrahim Idris, a former governor of Kogi state; Jonah Jang, a former governor of Plateau; Prof. Jerry Gana, a former minister of information; and Mohammed Abacha, a previous PDP candidate for governor of Kano.
Philip Aduda, the Senate Minority Leader, as well as a few PDP National Assembly caucus members attended the meeting.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, won the PDP’s presidential primary in May with 371 votes to Wike’s 237, making him the party’s flagbearer.
The PDP presidential candidate selected Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate a few weeks after the primary was held.
However, this sparked a dispute among party insiders as some praised Atiku’s selection of Okowa and others rejected it, arguing that Wike, the runner-up in the primary, should have been chosen instead of his Delta counterpart.
The PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) established a reconciliatory committee to meet with Wike of Rivers State over the fallout from the party’s presidential primary and crises surrounding the choice of a running mate in an effort to allay the governor’s perceived grievances.
