Why PDP Governors, Top NWC Members Shunned Atiku Abubakar’s Yola Event

Why PDP Governors, Top NWC Members Shunned Atiku Abubakar’s Yola Event

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is reportedly affecting the political activities of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Ezenwoko’s Blog reports that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is currently at loggerheads with Atiku over his choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate and the refusal of the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, to resign.

It was gathered that the lingering crisis between Atiku and Wike led to the absence of governors on the platform of the PDP and some key members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) from an event in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

Recall that Atiku had attended a rally in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, his home state, where he formally received defectors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, including two states lawmakers who defected to the PDP.

However, no PDP governor (apart from the host, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, and Atiku’s running mate, Okowa) and only four members of the NWC attended the event.

Atiku was also joined by a former Vice President, Namadi Sambo; former Adamawa State Governor, Boni Haruna; former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu; Senator Adamu Maina; and Senator Dino Melaye.

A mammoth crowd received the PDP presidential flagbearer at Mahmud Ribadu Square in Yola.

At the time of the rally, some bigwigs in the PDP met with Governor Wike in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Those who met with Wike include former governor of Gombe state, Ibrahim Dankwambo; governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom; governor of Abia state, Okezie Ikpeazu; former governor of Cross Rivers state, Donald Duke and former Attorney General of the federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN among others.

A source told Vanguard that the governors and those NWC members are taking a break from Atiku’s campaign “until he starts his unifying mantra from within the party before he can fully enjoy their support.

“Governors of the party are not with Wike, and indeed members of the NWC feel strongly that the flag bearer has been far from creative in solving the crisis rocking the party. Not only did he poorly handle the events immediately after the primaries, he has also not been forthcoming with tangible actions to patch up the party thereafter.”

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