Politics
Wike Drops Threat, Joins PDP Campaign Team As Atiku Pacifies Him
Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike has been pacified by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
The governor has therefore dropped his threat to quit as PDP South-South coordinator, assuring that he was now ready to do everything legally possible to help his party wrest power from President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2019.
It was gathered Saturday night that Wike’s repentance came after a meeting of the PDP presidential campaign council held at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt.
Wike had earlier threatened to abandon not only his position as South-South PDP coordinator, but also the party and its presidential candidate over their alleged failure to carry him along in taking decisions.
Apparently true to his words, Wike has not been participating in the activities of the PDP presidential campaign council led by Senate President Bukola Saraki.
But following the meeting in Port Harcourt, Ripples Nigeria gathered that after Atiku and some other stakeholders of the party, including the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, spoke to the governor of the oil rich state, he mellowed down and assured them of his full commitment henceforth on the task to sack Buhari and return PDP to power.
Wike had wanted Tambuwal to emerge as PDP presidential candidate and supposedly did everything possible to have him win the party’s presidential primary during its last convention in Port Harcourt, but failed.
Since that loss, Wike who remains one of the few outspoken PDP governors appears to have grown cold and withdrawn from playing active roles in his party’s consistent campaigns to wrest power from Buhari.
Aside Atiku, other stakeholders of the party at the pacification meeting were the PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, Tambuwal; Attahiru Bafarawa, Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Saraki, Speaker House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his counterpart from Cross River State, Ben Ayade.