Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike visited the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate for the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, last Wednesday evening in Abuja.
Wike’s visit came amid Atiku and the opposition party’s search for an acceptable Southern running mate for the coveted ticket.
PDP Board Chairman Walid Jibrin had said last Monday, “The BoT will help the party, and surely, the Waziri Adamawa (Atiku) itself to come up with a very acceptable Vice President from Southern Nigeria.” .
Atiku, who was also a PDP presidential candidate in 2019, ran with former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who left the PDP to become the Labor Party’s presidential flag bearer in 2023.
It has been learned that Wike’s visit was to reciprocate Atiku’s visit that the former Vice President paid to the Rivers State Governor’s Residence in Abuja last Monday.
Unlike Monday’s meeting which took place hours after the end of the PDP presidential primary at Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, where Wike’s outstanding performance took millions of PDP members and observers by storm. politicians, amid bitter feelings of loss, Wednesday’s meeting ended on a cordial note. as the governor and ex-VP beamed with smiles in a photo pose after the closed session.
Details of the meeting have yet to be made public, but insiders said the two players had fruitful discussions.
Atiku shared photos from the reunion on his verified social media pages.
He said, “It was a pleasure to have the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike along with notable leaders and officials from our major party, the PDP, at my residence today. I am proud of the promise this spirit of camaraderie holds for our party as a united front that guarantees victory in the next election to save the country.
Earlier last Wednesday, Atiku sought the support of his opposition party rivals to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election.
Atiku, after receiving the party’s return certificate at the PDP’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza in Abuja, said his main challenger was the APC and not his co-aspirants in Sunday’s presidential primary.
He urged his suitors to ally with him to unseat the APC government led by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
In the PDP presidential primary held at Moshood Abiola Stadium on Saturday, Atiku garnered 371 votes to defeat Wike, who received 237 votes; a former president of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, 70 votes; Akwa Ibom State Governor Emmanuel Udom, 38 votes; Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, 20 votes; a former Federation Government Secretary, Anyim Pius Anyim, 14 votes and a former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Sam Ohuabunwa, one vote.
Delegates were said to have been surprised when Sokoto State Governor Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, who was a frontrunner for the presidential ticket, resigned and ordered his supporters to vote for Atiku following this which the sources said was due to the intervention of northern elders, who were pushing for a northern consensus aspirant.
Wike had chastised Tambuwal for stepping down for Atiku at the last minute and alleged that some PDP governors had sabotaged him.
2022-06-03