17 PDP governorship aspirants travel to Rivers State and plead with Wike to support Atiku

SEVENTEEN Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidates have travelled to Rivers State to meet with Governor Nyesom Wike and plead with him to bury the hatchet and support their presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in next year's elections.

In late June at its annual convention in Abuja, the PDP, elected former vice president Alhaji Abubakar as its flagbearer for next year's presidential election. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State was a candidate in that election but he was beaten into second place and to make matters worse for him, he was not then picked as the party's running mate.

With Alhaji Abubakar opting to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, Governor Wike has been on the war path and there are now fears that he will dump the PDP. Among other things, he has been fraternizing with members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)  lately, amid talk of him possibly decamping.

Over the last fortnight, there have been a series of meetings in London to resolve the crisis, with Atiku flying to the UK to meet with Governor Wike in person. Wading into the crisis, the PDP gubernatorial aspirants met with Governor Wike at his private residence in Rumueprikon, in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of the state and appealed to him to support the party's presidential candidate, as well as its national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

During the meeting which lasted for about two hours, the aspirants asked Governor Wike to forgive both Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and Senator Ayu. Apparently, after a meeting with Atiku last Saturday, the aspirants had expressed concern over the feud which they argued had lingered for too long.

One party source said: “Aside from the challenges being faced in the various state chapters, the aspirants expressed concerns over the lingering crisis within the party at the national level and offered to mediate as a group.  They agreed to meet with Governor Nyesom Wike and those sympathetic to his cause to find an amicable solution to the crisis.”

A series of meetings are also scheduled to hold over the coming weeks with the ultimate aim of getting every party member on board. Feelers from the Wike camp indicate that members of the group have not foreclosed dialogue but are insisting that it would be on their terms.