Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has revealed that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar reached out to him to pacify Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State over the crisis rocking the party.
Recent activities of the PDP have shown that things are not going well within the party over Atiku’s choice of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election at expense of Governor Wike.
There are speculations that Wike may dump the party after he lost the PDP primaries to Atiku and subsequent picking of Okowa as the vice-presidential candidate.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE TV on Thursday, Ortom revealed that Atiku reached out to him to persuade Wike for a meeting where they will address the PDP crisis which may hamper the party’s success in the forthcoming elections.
He said, “Some of us believe in a southern presidency. We thought Wike would be the right person to get the ticket but he did not get it.
“Then the issue of vice-presidency came. I was one of the people that were able to convince Wike that ‘half a loaf is better than none; you wanted to be president, but God did not make it happen; there’s nothing wrong in asking to be the vice-president.’ Unfortunately, this did not work.
“I think that the leadership of the party needed to do the needful by reaching out to him immediately to pacify him. That is what happens in every political setting, because in the end, you need everybody to be around you.
“We look forward that the leadership of the party will do the needful to bring all of us together. Our presidential candidate has reached out to me to further persuade governor Wike that he’s coming to see him, they’ll sit down and discuss. For me, once that is done, that is the end of it.
“I believe that working together with governor Wike, we can achieve a better result for our party, the PDP. And so, I believe that our presidential candidate will reach out to Wike, and once they discuss and he’s pacified, I will also be pacified.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Atiku had previously reacted to the PDP crisis, saying that actions are being taken to address the grievances of all the party members, including governors.
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