The presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has held a closed-door meeting with governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday in Abuja.
Atiku, his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, were in attendance at the closed-door meeting that was held at the former vice-president’s residence in Asokoro, Abuja.
The meeting may not be unconnected with the 2023 general elections, strategy and how the party will come out victorious.
In attendance were governorship candidates of Lagos, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Sokoto, Kaduna, Zamfara, Delta, Plateau, Katsina, Lagos, Yobe, Niger, Kano, Jigawa, Benue, Borno and Kwara states.
Atiku, in a post on his twitter handle, said the meeting was to mobilise Nigerians in displacing the ruling All Progressives Congress at the 2023 general election.
He said, “Today, I met with the governorship candidates of the PDP at my residence in Abuja. It was an opportunity for us to x-ray the state of the nation and how as one, we can mobilise Nigerians for the task of ousting the ruling party and commencing the rebuilding of Nigeria.”
The continued delay in naming the campaign council may not be unrelated with the lingering crisis currently bedevilling the major opposition party, an issue that followed the selection of Okowa as vice-presidential candidate against the choice of Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike.
The crisis took a new turn following the demand by Wike for the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, a northerner.
Wike had insisted that the position should be zoned to the South as the presidential candidate of the party and the Board of Trustee Chairman were also from the North.
In an interview with BBC Hausa, Ayu had said: “I am truly not bothered by the unnecessary controversy being generated. When we started PDP, these children were not around. They are children who do not know why we formed the party. We will not allow any individual to destabilise our party.”
While responding, Wike described Ayu as a ‘greedy and arrogant’ man who was only after his interest, stressing that Ayu wanted the PDP to lose in 2023.
This crisis may have also led to the postponement of the National Executive Committee meeting earlier scheduled for Wednesday, August 10 and Thursday, August 11, 2022.
