•Lamido has lost his Political value– Wike
•Ayu says victory certain in 25 states
•Wike: Rivers PDP opposition mobilises 10million-man-march for Atiku/Okowa
ATIKU ABUBAKAR, presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has headed to the UK in an attempt to resolve his rift with Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, TheCable reports.
Sources close to the former vice-president said Abubakar is billed to meet with the Rivers governor on Thursday.
“The PDP presidential candidate headed for London today after arriving Paris yesterday. He is billed to meet with Wike tomorrow in an attempt to resolve the issues between them,” a source said.
Also, associates close to the PDP presidential candidate are not happy with the way in which Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa, and Babangida Aliyu, former governor of Niger, have criticised Wike and they want Abubakar to call them to order, another insider said.
In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Lamido said: “We should forget about Wike.”
“Wike is an individual, I don’t think because he is a governor there he has control and monopoly over the peoples of Rivers,” the former Jigawa governor had said.
Abubakar’s desperate move to resolve the issues between him and Wike came a day after Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), met with the Rivers governor in Paris, France.
Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue; Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and other PDP stalwarts loyal to the Rivers governor also attended the meeting.
The PDP has been in turmoil since it held its presidential primary election in May.
Atiku clinched the party’s ticket after the dramatic withdrawal of Tambuwal from the race. Tambuwal had asked his supporters to support the former vice-president.
The crisis in the party escalated after Atiku chose Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate
Party stakeholders had expressed concerns that Atiku ignored Wike — who was said to have been preferred by a majority of the PDP’s national working committee (NWC) members as the candidate for the position.
Both men met weeks ago but they were not able to broker a truce.
Lamido has lost his Political value– Wike
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has taken a swipe at the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, saying the latter has lost relevance politically.
Lamido had while speaking on Channel’s Television ‘Politics Today’ on Tuesday night said there was no need for any reconciliation between Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, saying nobody wronged the Rivers governor.
But Wike in a statement through his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, on Wednesday, described the comments credited to Lamido as disgusting and disdainful.
The statement reads,” We have observed with disgust the disdainful remarks made by the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido about Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, during his recent interview on Channels television.
“While, we cannot deny that Alhaji Lamido has an inalienable right to his personal opinion, we wish to declare that he, however, lacks the right to malign governor Wike, whose immense contributions to the sustenance of the Peoples Democratic Party are not in dispute.
“It is rather appalling that at a time when concerted efforts are being made by lovers of true democracy and the unity of the party, to resolve some inherent contradictions plaguing the PDP, Alhaji Lamido and his cohorts, who have since lost their relevance in the polity, are busy creating friction and schism.”
He said Wike has never claimed to be the custodian of the over three million votes in Rivers state.
“But as the leader of the PDP and good people of Rivers State, anyone who underrates the governor’s political pedigree or dares to ignore his influence in the state and beyond will be doing so at his own peril.
“We wish to remind Alhaji Lamido that governor Wike has never left anyone in doubt about his capacity to sway the voters in Rivers state in a direction that benefits the people and the state, in overall.
political pedigree or dares to ignore his influence in the state and beyond will be doing so at his own peril.
“We wish to remind Alhaji Lamido that governor Wike has never left anyone in doubt about his capacity to sway the voters in Rivers state in a direction that benefits the people and the state, in overall.
“When he speaks, Rivers people will listen, no doubt. Perhaps, Alhaji Lamido thinks Nigerians are suffering from selective amnesia to have forgotten in a hurry, the ignoble role he and his cohorts played between 2014 and 2015, that culminated in the defeat of the PDP in the 2015 general election.
“We hope that he is not up in such scheme again to cause a repeat of that history. Otherwise, if Alhaji Lamido has any modicum of conscience, he won’t be making disparaging comments about governor Wike, whom many have described as the pillar of the PDP since 2015,” he added.
Continuing, he said, “We wish to state without equivocation that no well-meaning member of the PDP will describe governor Wike as ‘insignificant’ in the affairs of the PDP. With all modesty, only persons plagued by schizophrenia psychosis will ascribe any form of relevance to Alhaji Lamido, under whose leadership the PDP has woefully lost two governorship elections in Jigawa State in quick succession.
“Under Lamido’s watch, as a governor of Jigawa State in 2015, the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, scored a total 648,045 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Malam Aminu Ringim, who scored a total 479, 447 votes. Worst still, in 2019, governor Abubakar polled 810,933, while the PDP candidate scored 288,356.
“Such records depict that Alhaji Lamido cannot and does not have such political following that will benefit the PDP. Those who want electoral victory for the PDP are not dampening the morale required for a political offensive at APC, but Alhaji Lamido is cracking the wall of unity badly.
“Let it be told that in 2015, governor Wike, as an opposition candidate in Rivers State polled 1,029,102 votes to defeat the then ruling APC governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, who managed to garner a paltry 124,896 votes.
“And in 2019, the governor also won by landslide. These are marks of political sagacity and determination to keep PDP at a leading pedestal.
“So, as the 2023 general elections beckon, we wish to advise Alhaji Lamido to redeem his battered political image by delivering Jigawa State to the PDP, if he can,” the statement read.
Ayu says victory certain in 25 states
The national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday met with its governorship candidates ahead of the 2023 general election.
The meeting was held behind closed doors at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, who is seeking re-election, was absent from the meeting.
The meeting comes amid the crisis rocking the leading opposition party.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the party, said the governorship candidates expressed concerns in their respective states.
Ayu added that members are prepared and the party will win the governorship election in 25 states.
“The candidates came and expressed their concerns in their various states; briefed us about the efforts they are making in their various states to win the election,” he said.
“As you know, the elections will be won in the states, not just at the national level. I am very happy with the progress made so far in various states and some of the little issues that we have clarified. It was an extremely useful meeting.
“So we are happy that the members of the party are very determined that we don’t just win at the national level, states of assembly, national assembly, or state governorship; we want to return about 25 state governors or more as we used to have.”
Also speaking, Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, described the mood in the party as “very excellent”.
“The chairman has already spoken, you know we are loyal party members. We believe in the supremacy and sanctity of the party and he (Ayu) has already told you that the mood is very excellent,” he said.
“The candidates are coming together uniting the party to discuss, even issues of reconciliation. So, it is a very democratic party.”
2023: Wike will work for Tinubu – Masari
Alhaji Ibrahim Masari,a close associate of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had said that after meeting the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike in London, they are confident that Wike would now work for the success of Tinubu come 2023.
Alhaji Ibrahim Masari who spoke from London, told the BBC Hausa on Wednesday,that it’s true Tinubu met Wike and they would continue to meet in due course.
According to him,” the meeting was basically on the 2023 Presidential election and by God’s grace, we are going to work with His Excellency, Governor Nyeson Wike ,he will assist and we are going to win the election with ease,by the will of God. “
Asked on whether Wike was intending to join the APC in order to assist Tinubu win election, Masari said he was not in position to say if Wike would join the PDP , adding that Wike does not have to leave the PDP before he could assist anyone that he wants to help.
” This is because Wike is a big politician, a Governor and he has control in some other states apart from his state. He is good to the people and has associated with his people peacefully. By the grace of God, he will be of help to us.”
Asked if the new political romance would last considering the fact that Atiku’s camp too,is still trying to pacify Wike, Masari explained that ” well, only God knows what would happen next. But what we are seeing now, what has transpired is that we are going to work with Wike and he will be useful to us.”
” If you could remember, it was APC that caused the failure of APC in Bauchi, it was members of the party that led to the defeat of the Governor from their own party. In Adamawa too. So what I want people to understand, someone can still assist you even without joining your party if he wants to.”
“Furthermore, with the widespread acceptance of His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Nigerians, I can assure you by the will of God he is going to win the election, with or without help. But there is the Hausa adage which says even if you’re beautiful, you should add to it by taking bath. So it’s not only about Wike, we are also talking with many other Governors.”
He said their political alliance with Wike would not make the likes of former Minister Rotimi Amaechi and other APC members in Rivers State to feel sidelined, as they are ever ready to carry all of them along.
” Nobody will do anything that will hurt Rotimi Amaechi, he is a party member, a formidable member of the APC,’ he said.
Wike: Rivers PDP opposition mobilises 10million-man-march for Atiku/Okowa
AMIDST clampdown by Governor Nyesom Wike and Rivers state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on pro Atiku Abubakar supporters, House of Representatives member, Farah Dagogo, has vowed to mobilise a one million man match in support of the PDP presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
Farah Dagogo who suffered prison detention and lost of Rivers state governorship bid on account of 2023 differences with Wike said yesterday that the planned rally to drum support for Atiku was alresdy at advanced stage and would happen in a matter of days across the Niger Delta.
Dismissing fears that PDP may not do well in the region in the 2023 elections under prevailing Wike’s grandstanding, Dagogo stated, “Conducting elections in Nigeria changed. Voting power is now with the people. No one can order anyone around, on who to vote or not, no matter how highly placed, because the people are the deciders with their PVCs and votes.
” PDP has been true and fair to our people. It was by the means of this party that we clinched the President in this country through our son, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, among several other benefits. We are at an advanced stage in plans for ten million man march for Atiku and Okowa across the Niger Delta, particularly Rivers State.
“We have spoken with those that will vote, real voters with PVCs, not political sycophants, and we have been able to galvanise a lot of them. In the coming days we will take over the streets of the Niger Delta and publicly demonstrate that support.
“That will also prove to the naysayers that the region is for PDP. Atiku will win and it is in the interest of those who do not want to be left behind to board or be cast in the dustbin of political history,” he added.”
Your arrogance’ll earn Atiku another electoral failure, Group warns Lamido
A socio-political group, the One Nigeria Movement (ONM) has said that the display of arrogance by former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido and others around the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will cost him the 2023 election.
The group said utterances of Lamido in recent times are not only inimical to the unity of Nigeria, but a sign that the PDP presidential candidate was already being caged by a group who appeared to see others as nobody.
According to a statement on Wednesday, by its Convener General, Ahmed Sodiq-Mugoro and Secretary, Babatunde Aliyu, ONM, said, listening to a over 70 years Sule Lamido talk the way he did on Channels Television yesterday, it was clear that Atiku and those around him do not want to win any election.
The group also said calling Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State emperor by someone like Lamido who after being governor of Jigawa State for eight years, have imposed his own son as PDP governorship candidate is to say the least, hypocritical.
It said a situation where a younger Governor Wike is maintaining some kind of decorum while a over 70 year-old man like Lamido is speaking recklessly is appalling.
Lamido had said both members of Atiku and Wike’s team who met in Port Harcourt, Rivers State were simply well-wishers and that they are not known from the party.
Reacting, the ONM said it was obvious that Atiku and those around him like Lamido do not want Governor Wike and his men. Those with Atiku appeared like people who already have the votes in their inner pockets and are only waiting for him (Atiku) to be pronounced winner.
However, it is our belief that even if you know that you have won an election, you still don’t have to rob it on the face of your opponents before voting and declaration of results, with a over 70 year-old man jumping from one media house to another to speak like others do not matter.
Most importantly, if Atiku, who is called a unifier is unable to unify his own house, how will he be able unite Nigerians if he is elected president?
The ONM said by the actions and utterances of people around Atiku, it should be clear to Wike and those with him that no agreement will be respected, adding they should stop seeking peace with Atiku and his men.
Credit: TheCable, Vanguard
