I’ve met Wike 5 times, Atiku speaks on PDP crisis

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said contrary to popular insinuations, he had met with Governor Nyesom Wike, Of Rivers State, five times in attempts to settle the party’s leadership crisis.

Atiku made the revelation at Channels TV town hall meeting on Sunday, December 11, 2022,

Asked why things have been difficult to sort out, Abubakar said: “It’s not on my part. It’s on the other side. I’m waiting.”

Meanwhile: Abubakar’s comment comes just few hours after Wike said it is an insult to Nigerians for another northerner to be contesting the presidency since the current president is from the north.

The PDP crisis: Recall that the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his Benue, Enugu, Abia and Oyo State counterparts, Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu and Seyi Makinde, respectively, fell out with the presidential candidate over the demand for the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Wike and the four other aggrieved governors had vowed that until Ayu quits his position as National Chairman of the party, they would withhold their support for Atiku in 2023.

Efforts by stakeholders of the party to restore normalcy proved abortive after a series of meetings with Wike failed to yield positive results.

What you should know: Wike has since distanced himself from the PDP presidential campaign council. The party stalwarts, who share in Wike’s vision, maintained that there would be no support for Atiku until Ayu vacate the number one office of the party to allow an acting Chairman from the South part of the country.