Atiku declined supporting Jonathan's re-election bid in 2015- Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has disclosed that former President Goodluck Jonathan pleaded with ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to support his re-election bid in 2015.

the big reveal: Wike, however, disclosed that Atiku refused to support Jonathan’s plea to support his re-election bid.

The governor spoke when Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State commissioned the Akpabu-Itu-Umudiogha road in the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers.

Wike said: “Jonathan travelled to the Dorchester Hotel in London to meet Atiku but rather, the former VP told Jonathan to relinquish his ticket to him in 2015.”

What eventually happened: Jonathan, who was the PDP presidential candidate in 2015, was defeated at the polls by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Why this is relevant: Meanwhile, Atiku and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, had visited Jonathan a few days ago.

The visit is not unconnected to the crisis ravaging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Wike has been at loggerheads with Atiku and the party’s leadership since he lost his bid to become PDP’s presidential candidate.

About the PDP crisis: Pulse reports that five governors including Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, have been on a warpath with PDP over calls for the resignation of the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

The governors' main grouse was about the perceived injustice and lack of fairness in the party, occasioned by the emergence of Abubakar Atiku, a northerner, as the presidential candidate and the continued stay of Ayu, another northerner, as the chairman.