The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will on Wednesday meet with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, vice presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
The BoT’s Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, in a statement yesterday, said the meeting was to resolve the crisis rocking the party over the nomination of Okowa as its vice presidential candidate.
Senator Jibrin said the BoT was worried that the emergence of Atiku and Okowa as the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates was unnecessarily causing confusion among some PDP members.
He said, “The BoT is meeting on Wednesday, August 3, to address properly the issue by coming up with a strong committee to reconcile all aggrieved members, including Governor Wike.
“After the BoT meeting, we will meet with Atiku, Okowa and Wike to finally resolve the matter to make PDP stronger and very united and enable Atiku and Okowa win the election hands down.”
Wike had on Sunday met with PDP governors and other stakeholders who coordinated his campaign for the presidential ticket.
During the meeting, it was gathered that the Wike PDP camp demanded the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, as part of the conditions to work for Atiku.
Sources familiar with the meeting said the Rivers governor’s men were also demanding a written agreement from the presidential candidate on what would be accruing to them should the party win the 2023 elections.
Members of the camp had complained that the PDP had been hijacked by the North, saying the region produced its chairman, presidential candidate and BoT chairman.
A source said, “What they are saying is that Ayu has been compromised, he refused to be impartial, he worked solely for the emergence of Atiku Abubakar. That is why some people are saying he should step down for equity.
“The problem is that they are not sure that if Atiku wins, Ayu will agree to step down. So the Wike camp is said to be asking for a written agreement that Ayu will go and what they stand to benefit if the party wins the presidential election.”
