Wike and members of his camp also want every member of his team considered for appointment should Atiku win the election, according to sources
By Jeffrey Agbo
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is demanding that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar sign an undertaking that he will only govern for a single tenure of four years.
According to a report by the Guardian, sources within the party’s national secretariat said that the aforementioned is part of demands made by the Wike camp before they pledge their support for Atiku.
It also learnt that the Wike camp wants every member of the team to be considered for appointment should the party win the presidential election next year.
The newspaper also learnt that the Wike camp wants the party’s national chairman Iyorchia Ayu to resign because of a reported gentleman agreement, which had requested that Ayu should resign should the presidential candidate of the party emanate from the north.
These issues will form the bases of the party’s crucial Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting on Wednesday.
Wike has been at war with Atiku since the latter overlooked him for the vice-presidential slot. Atiku chose Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa instead.
Chairman of the BoT, Walid Jibrin, said the meeting will fast-track ongoing reconciliation process in the party.
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“The BoT is the highest advisory body and conscience of the party. After the BoT meeting, we will meet with Wike and all aggrieved members and all past presidential aspirants. It is my prayer as Chairman of BoT that the PDP will remain strong to win all elections in 2023,” he said in a statement.
Jibrin said they were concerned that “the election of Atiku Abubakar as our presidential candidate and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as a vice presidential candidate is unnecessarily causing confusion among some PDP members.
“I want to advise all BoT members in the Prof Jerry Gana group to attend the BoT meeting on Wednesday to come out with a common stance of the BoT. After the BoT meeting, we will meet with Atiku, Okowa and Wike to finally resolve the matter to make PDP stronger and very united and enable Atiku and Okowa to win the election hands down.”
The BoT Chairman, however, stated that the challenges were not even up to the level of the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), adding, “I want to assure everyone that all plans are on the ground to bring all members as one and united because what is happening in PDP can never be compared with the situation in APC and their plans to bring the religious issue of Muslim president and vice president.”
