One month after the victory of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the party appears to be on a self-destruction path.
It would be recalled that Atiku emerged as the candidate following the dramatic stepdown of Aminu Tambuwal, a move that angered Governor Nyesom Wike and his allies.
“I just decided that this our party must not be destroyed. I would have left where I was sitting down and say this convention cannot go ahead except you allow me to talk. I would have flattened him,” Wike had said some days after the convention.
Many believed that the post-convention reconciliation would have addressed the fallout from the primary election, but the choice of Vice Presidential running mate has further polarized the party.
Atiku visited Wike at his residence in Abuja on the 30th of May, and promised to work with him closely to deliver the party in 2023.
While the PDP has been hailed to have been the only major political party to have sorted the issue of running mate, however, the choice of Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate seems to be tearing the party apart.
So far, several PDP chieftains have openly challenged the process leading to the choice of Okowa, as many accused Atiku of not keeping to his promise to appoint Wike as running mate.
Although, Governor Wike had publicly said he would not accept to be running mate to anyone. “I’m not coming out to negotiate to be vice to anyone, I’m coming out to contest for the number one position in the country,” he had said.
However, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and Governor Samuel Ortom have recently claimed that Atiku offered the VP slot to Wike as compensation.
“Wike never said he wanted to be VP, but when Atiku visited him, he was the one who said, ‘I want you to be my VP’. He said that to Wike. If that then changes, is Wike not supposed to be told? Is he not supposed to know?” Fayose had told journalists.