Halt Attacks On Wike – Atiku Cautions Loyalists

• Admits caustic comments derailing peace moves

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Yet to make the desired headway in moves for peace within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has begged loyalists to stop the ongoing media onslaughts against Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and his supporters.

This is as the PDP presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections admits the media attacks have somewhat slowed down and compromised conscious efforts being made at resolving the festering rift between him and the Rivers Chief Executive.

In a statement released by his Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, on Thursday, the Wazirin Adamawa said: “It has become imperative to appeal to all party members, leaders and everyone related to, connected with or associated with the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar to desist from making comments that potentially reduce the optics of PDP’s image as a united political party.”

The statement comes on the heels of reports that Wike and three other PDP governors met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in London on Thursday with the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi also said to be part of the meeting.

Also, news had filtered out late on Thursday that Atiku was scheduled to meet with Governor Wike and his camp in London as part of efforts at reconciling their differences and re-engineering the PDP for the electoral battle next year.

The statement by Mazi Ibe stated further; “This appeal becomes necessary in order to call the attention of party leaders and members to the diversionary antics of the ruling All Progressives Congress which, in manufacturing a false impression of division within the PDP, aims to hoodwink the Nigerian public to overlook the monumental failures of the ruling party.

“Today, Nigerians look up to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to lead the charge in ousting the ruling party. This expectation from the people is the reason why the APC is jittery of their impending fall in next year’s general election. It is also the very reason why the ruling party is manipulating the political process to create a sense of division in the PDP.

“Because they know that there is nothing to campaign with from their records of performance in office, the APC has elected to play the role of the devil’s advocate, regaling in celebration of their imaginary invincibility upon a fraudulent claim that the PDP is divided.”

According to the former Vice President; “It is for this reason that appeal to every true member of the PDP and anyone who truly wishes the success of the PDP presidential candidate to not fall for the antics of the APC in making statements that could give credence to the false claim of divisions in the PDP.

“All the leaders of the party, including especially the governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Nyesom Wike and all governors of the PDP are united in working for the victory of the PDP in next year’s general election across the board.”

“What is at stake in the next year’s election is the future of Nigeria and all leaders and members of the PDP are on the same page in the mission to rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of the APC”, the statement said

Many PDP stalwarts and political commentators are not mincing words in cautioning that the unrestrained exchange of offensive remarks and insinuations in the media between the loyalists of both men, who vied for the Party’s presidential ticket with Atiku emerging the winner, have continued to derail efforts at peaceful settlement of contending issues between the two camps.

In the last few weeks, Governor Wike and some PDP governors in his camp have been holding meetings with some key leaders of the ruling APC as well as the Labour Party’s Standard bearer, Peter Obi, within and outside the country even as permutations heightened that there is mounting pressure on the Rivers Governor’s camp to deploy its political machinery towards thwarting Atiku’s presidential bid come 2023.

The PDP crisis boiled over in June when the former Vice President preferred Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate instead of Governor Wike who came highly recommended by the party’s structures after coming second in the presidential primaries.

In the process, Wike and his loyalists have not relented in demanding the resignation of PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu as a condition for supporting Atiku’s presidential bid.

Aside from Ayu rebuffing the resignation calls and insisting on serving out his four years tenure, Atiku’s ally and former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido seems to be the arrowhead in the sustained media attack on Governor Wike and his backers.

In some of his remarks described by some insiders as toxic to the peace and reconciliation efforts, Lamido had urged the PDP hierarchy to ignore the Rivers governor’s rantings and move forward because his perceived influence in the party was overly exaggerated.