By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Atiku Abubakar, has been told to do everything possible within his power to mend fences with the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike.
The Governor contested the party’s ticket a few months ago but lost out after his counterpart from Sokoto State, Mr Aminu Tambuwal, urged delegates at the primary to support the former Vice President of Nigeria.
Mr Wike had believed that the ticket would be his until the last-minute uppercut by Mr Tambuwal, who the Rivers Governor supported for the 2019 presidential primary.
After he lost his ambition to become the next President of Nigeria, Mr Wike had thought that he would be considered for the VP slot, but Mr Atiku opted for the Governor of Delta State, Mr Ifeanyi Okowa. Since then, Mr Wike has threatened fire, asking the chairman of the party, Mr Iyorchia Ayu, to resign.
This week, those in the camp of the Rivers Governor pulled out of the campaign team of the party’s presidential candidate, an action some observers have said could backfire.
But a frontline pan-Igbo socio-political pressure organisation, the South East Revival Group (SERG), wants Mr Atiku to handle the situation with care, warning of “impending political calamity, not just for him as a contestant, but also for the PDP as a political party” if Governor Wike and his protesting camp are ignored.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Willy Ezugwu, the group said Mr Ayu must step down, maintaining that “it was suicidal politically for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to play the my-hands-are-tied card.”
“As the leader of the PDP in prosecuting his 2023 presidential campaign, having emerged as the party’s candidate, the mistake of hiding under the rule of law to sustain injustice and promote lack of honour by party members will be detrimental to the success of the PDP and her presidential candidate in February 2023.
“Atiku must not forget that the entire South, especially the South East, has options after Igbos were denied the presidential ticket by the PDP when it jettisoned the zoning formula as entrenched in the party’s constitution but will now turn around to insist on a lopsided leadership of the party under the guise of the party constitution even when Ayu became the National Chairman of the party based on an agreement that he will resign if a presidential candidate emerges from the north.
“Such other political options will be gladly explored by the South East of Nigeria and other southern political blocs when it becomes expedient.
“It must be noted that with the Peter Obi movement’s increasing acceptance through the current move by young Nigerian people to produce a President of their choice, and the decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to produce a northern Muslim vice-presidential candidate from Atiku’s North East constituency, should be ringing the loud political bell in the PDP that ignoring the demands of the Wike camp will be an irredeemable mistake.
“While it is true that the PDP gave Iyorchia Ayu a resounding vote of confidence, the question is, how will such vote of confidence convince traditional PDP zones like the South East and South-South to vote for Atiku?
“Already, the denial of the South East of its well-deserved presidential slot, contrary to PDP’s zoning arrangements, was a way of saying to the region that your loyalty to the party over the years does not matter.
“However, to throw away the aggrieved Wike camp, which cuts across the six geopolitical zones of the country, will be a regrettable decision for Atiku and the PDP,” SERG warned.
