PDP CRISIS: Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has at long last responded to the developments after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary election.
Shortly after arriving home from a trip abroad, he gave a speech on Friday at the Port Harcourt International Airport in the state capital of Rivers.
Notable Quotes:
Wike stated, “I have decided to be quiet because PDP is a party I love so much,” said the governor during a briefing with reporters. “I have moved on to conclude my social contract with the people of Rivers. However, it is time to let Nigerians know the truth.”
Governor Wike criticized the PDP presidential candidate’s address on the same day that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was introduced as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate.
Additionally, he alleged that the former vice president had propagated false information about him by employing certain top leaders of the main opposition party.
In due course, the governor promised to respond to both the party’s flagbearer and the party chieftains, whom he referred to as Atiku’s “attack dogs.”
He vowed to clear the air following the commissioning of the projects the state administration had planned for inauguration and warned that history would not forgive him if he failed to do so.
In reference to the PDP leadership’s creation of a reconciliation committee, Governor Wike said that former Vice President Atiku had not yet sent any delegations to him.
However, he claimed that Bukola Saraki, the former president of the Senate, had a personal meeting with him in Spain.
The governor queried why the former Vice President, Atiku considered it necessary to visit him at home to ask for help in the past, but has since forgotten how to get there again.
On the news going round that Atiku sent some representatives to speak to him about the problem in the PDP and the fallout from the party’s presidential primary, he challenged anyone spreading such news to prove it.
Governor Wike claimed that he would stay in the PDP and work to rebuild the party while claiming that the concept of creating a committee was only being discussed in the media.
Notable Quotes:
Speaking Further, “I am not a slave and will not be a slave. I am freeborn of the country.”
Catch up:
Clariform reminds our readers that Atiku received 371 votes in the PDP’s presidential primary, which was held in May, defeating Wike, who received 237 votes and finished in second place.
The remaining valid votes were split among former Senate President Bukola Saraki (70); Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel (38); Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed (38); ex-Senate President Pius Anyim (14); Mrs. Tari Diana Oliver (One); and Mr. Sam Ohuabunwa (1).
The PDP presidential candidate selected Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election, weeks after the PDP primaries was conducted.
However, this sparked a dispute among party insiders as some praised Atiku’s selection of Okowa and others rejected it, arguing that Wike, the runner-up in the primary, should have been chosen instead of his Delta counterpart.
The PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) established a reconciliatory committee to meet with Wike of Rivers State over the fallout from the party’s presidential primary and crises surrounding the choice of a running mate in an effort to allay the governor’s perceived grievances.
