The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar says he met with, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to resolve the lingering crisis within the party without any way forward.
He said he met with Wike five times in Abuja, Port Harcourt and London.
The presidential hopeful said this while speaking at the ‘People’s Townhall’ series for presidential candidates and their running mates, organised by Channels Television, on Sunday.
Atiku said it is no fault of his that the crisis in the party is yet to be resolved.
There is the current crisis in the PDP over calls for Iyorchia Ayu to step down from his position as national chairman of the party.
The calls, championed by Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, and his allies, are based on the grounds that the PDP presidential candidate and national chairman cannot be from the same region.
Ayu and Abubakar are both northerners.
Speaking on Sunday, the PDP presidential candidate said he met with Wike five times — within and outside the country — on the development.
“I have met Wike two times in Port Harcourt, two times in Abuja, one time in London — personally,” he said.
Asked why things have been difficult to sort out, Abubakar said: “It’s not on my part. It’s on the other side. I’m waiting.”
Governor Wike and four of his colleagues’ Governors Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and some stakeholders in the party had pulled out of Atiku’s campaign and launched what they called the Integrity Group.
They had concluded that until the National Chairman of the Party Dr Iyorchia Ayu resigns and is replaced by a southerner, they would not work for Atiku.
Meanwhile, all efforts by Atiku and other party stakeholders including the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Board of Trustee (BoT) to pacify the aggrieved parties have failed.
Wike lost the presidential ticket of the party to Atiku at the keenly contested primary election in May.
He also indicated interest to be Atiku’s running mate but the presidential candidate settled for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta.
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