2023: PDP Board of Trustees fails to settle Atiku/Wike rift

The feud between Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike deepened yesterday.

The Board of Trustees (BoT) rejected Wike’s supporters’ demand for the resignation of the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

The renewed reconciliation brokered by Senator Walid Jibrin-led BoT is being threatened by a lack of compromise between the two camps.

Wike’s camp had premised its demand for Ayu’s ouster on the pre-presidential primary agreement that he would step aside if a Northerner is elected as the presidential candidate.

 

According to the camp, both the presidential flag bearer and the national chairman cannot come from the same region.

But, a source close to the BoT said the board dismissed the demand as unrealistic, adding that it can only be met if Atiku wins next year’s election.

A crisis had hit the major opposition party following the choice of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the running mate of Atiku.

Supporters of Wike, who came second behind the former Vice President, believed that the Rivers governor, and not Okowa, should have been named as running mate following the recommendation of the panel set up on the matter.

Atiku had insisted that he picked Okowa from among the options presented to him.

Wike and his supporters have not given a categorical statement of support for the Atiku/Okowa ticket.

The PDP BoT, during a meeting at the Abuja PDP national secretariat, resolved to set up a committee to reconcile the warring chieftains.

Jibrin said all members of the BoT are members of the committee.

Party stakeholders were said to have agreed that the Deputy National Chairman (South) will replace Ayu, who is from the Northcentral zone.

Wike’s supporters did not attend yesterday’s meeting.

A few of them who attended were said to have drawn the attention of the meeting to the fact that the presidential ticket and two key leadership positions are being held by the North.

“The presidential ticket holder, the national chairman and BoT chairman are all from the North.

“Atiku is from Northeast, Ayu is from Northcentral and the BoT chair is also from Northcentral,” one of them said.

Senator Abdul Ningi told reporters that the rift between Atiku and Wike remained unresolved.

He said: “We discussed the crisis between our presidential candidate and Wike. In getting it resolved, we set up a committee of the whole to urgently interface with the two of them. Nation