Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Members of a committee formed by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to mediate their disputes met in Port Harcourt yesterday for more than four hours without succeeding in bringing about the desired reconciliation.
Since Atiku’s refusal to choose him as his running mate for the 2023 election and instead chose Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, the two have been at odds. The Rivers governor had previously run for the party’s presidential nomination but lost to Atiku.
Olusegun Mimiko, the former governor of Ondo State, who accompanied Wike to the meeting at Government House in Port Harcourt, declared upon exiting that “this is a reconciliation process, there are some issues out there which need further debate when the committees meet again.”
Although Mimiko did not specifically state what was holding up the reconciliation, reports indicated that Wike’s team’s request that Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, resign first is still a major sticking point.
Ahmadu Fintiri, the governor of Adamawa State, as well as Congressmen Adamu Waziri and Eyitayo Jegede spoke on behalf of Atiku.
Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoki, Governor of Abia State Okezie Ikpeazu, former Governor of Cross River State Donald Duke, former Governor of Gombe State Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo, and Mimiko were all members of Governor Wike’s team.
After the meeting, Fintiri spoke to the media and said that discussions were still taking place to accomplish the intended goals.
He asserted that this is in recognition of the fact that Nigerians were patiently waiting for the PDP to unseat the All Progressives Congress in 2023 and free the nation from the poor leadership engendered by the current federal administration.
He urged Nigerians to be patient and expressed hope that, in the end, the committee would mediate a settlement that would unify the party and Nigerians as a whole.
“We are aware that Nigerians are anxiously anticipating the PDP’s assumption of power in 2023,” Fintiri remarked. We’ve gotten together as political family members and leaders to start the conversation. Our work is still in progress, but we’ll keep going.
“At the end of the day, we will mediate peace and we will bring Nigerians and the party together.”
Mimiko added that the committee’s members’ commitment to achieving party unity would soon be realized. Mimiko made a hint that the committee would reconvene to further discuss the pertinent issues.
We have come to the conclusion that our party needs to improve its internal cohesion, he stated.
Later, Wike and members of the committee convened at his home in Rumueprikom, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, the state.
As part of the plan to settle their disagreements, Atiku and Wike agreed to form the committee during a meeting they held in Abuja a few weeks ago at the home of a former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Prof. Jerry Gana.
The failure of previous attempts by PDP elders and stakeholders to resolve the Atiku/Wike conflict has fueled rumors that Wike would back a rival presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
Gana Requests Wike
In a similar event, Wike was urged to put aside his displeasure in the past and look to the future when he is elected president of Nigeria by former communications minister Jerry Gana yesterday.
During the flag-off of a flyover in Rivers State’s Obio-Akpor region, Gana spoke.
Gana urged Wike to remain in the PDP and not renege on his pledge to the party in the context of the PDP crisis.
