The five Peoples Democratic Party governors led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike will today; Thursday, meet in London, United Kingdom.
Governor Nyesom Wike, Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) recently withdrew their membership of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, insisting on the removal of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu.
Govenor Wike says He is not happy with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar after the latter settled for the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate despite reportedly having an agreement to run with the Rivers State’s governor on a joint ticket after Wike lost to him in the primary election.
The Governors who were conspicuously absent from the Atiku campaign flag off in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, are meeting in London today to take far reaching decisions ahead of the 2023 polls.
It was learnt that Monday’s decision by the party and Atiku to flag off the campaign without Wike and his allies may have informed the latest meeting.
So far, efforts to reconcile Atiku and Wike’s allies have not been successful. The Board of Trustees of the party led by the acting Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, set up a reconciliation committee to intervene in the lingering crisis but have been unable to broker peace as expected.
Wike has vowed to remain in the party, promising however not to have anything to do with the presidential campaigns unless Ayu leaves.
Ahead of today’s flag-off of the Peoples Democratic Party -PDP’s Presidential Campaign in Akwa Ibom State in Uyo, the state capital is witnessing a convergence of high profiled delegations of PDP stakeholders who started arriving on Sunday.  Among them are the Vice Presidential candidate and governor of Delta State, Dr. IFEANYI OKOWA, Governor GODWIN OBASEKI of Edo State, Bayelsa state Governor DOUYE DIRI, former Cross River State Governor, LIYEL IMOKE, amongst others. The host Governor and Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. UDOM EMMANUEL, who was on hand to receive the delegations at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, expressed delight over the hosting of the campaign flag-off and thanked the leadership of the Party for entrusting him and other members of the campaign council with the task of driving the Atiku/Okowa rescue mission. Giving assurances of the Campaign Council’s preparedness for a grand rally to launch the PDP to victory, Governor EMMANUEL said the flag-off promises to be stunning, adding that the outstanding performances by PDP Governors have given impetus to the party.
Members of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike camp in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have pulled out of the campaign Council of the party’s presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Rising from a meeting in Port Harcourt early morning on Wednesday, members of the team vowed not to partake in Atiku’s campaigns until the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu resigns.
Alhaji. Atiku Abubakar, has announced Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate ahead of the 2023 elections.
Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, made the announcement at a meeting attended by PDP executives at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, said a 17-member committee had been set up by the party to pick a running mate.
He said the committee had submitted three names to Atiku to choose from.
The final decision however, Ayu said, was Atiku’s.
Speaking at the announcement event, Atiku said making a choice between the three names was been a difficult decision.
He also noted that some of the qualities he looked out for include someone who understood the enormity of the challenges facing the country and one who had demonstrated, from experience, that he could proffer some solutions.
According to Atiku, all the three names submitted were qualified, but he had to settle for Okowa as the man with the best fit.
