Atiku visits Ekweremadu in a final quest to get him to sheath his sword and accept Peter Obi's candidacy

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has visited deputy senate president Senator Ike Ekweremadu in a bid to get him to sheath his sword and accept his decision to pick for Anambra State governor Peter Obi as his running mate.

Following his nomination as the PDP presidential flagbearer, Alhaji Abubakar immediately picked Governor Obi as his running mate but several southeastern governors and leaders were unhappy with the choice. Several of them nursed ambitions of their own, while some said they were displeased with the fact that they were not consulted before the decision was taken.

Last weekend, Alhaji Abubakar celebrated his 72nd birthday in Yola and the event was marked with him being turbaned as the Wazirin Yola. However, Senator Ekweremadu, all three PDP governors from the southeast and other senior Igbo leaders in the party did not attend the event, in what was seen as a continued protest over the picking of Governor Obi.

In a bid to resolve the crisis, Alhaji Abubakar has been to see Senator Ekweremadu accompanied by the senate president and the director-general of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council Senator Bukola Saraki. Also on his entourage were PDP national chairman Prince Uche Secondus and the party's national organising secretary Col Austin Akobundu.

It was learnt that the visit was meant to appease Senator Ekweremadu, who had hoped that he would be the natural choice for the position. During the visit, the entourage asked for Senator Ekweremadu’s support and explained to him that Governor Obi was picked in the interest of the zone in particular and the nation in general.

One PDP source said: “He was told that Obi does not have any corruption case against him and that he does not belong to any faction of the party. He was also told that Obi’s emergence has further raised the acceptability level of the PDP across the country.”

Meanwhile, the PDP has scheduled its national executive committee meeting for tomorrow in Abuja, where it will vet its budget for the election campaigns. Prince Secondus also confirmed that the event will also involve the official inauguration of the campaign council.

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