From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja and Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Presidential Campaign Council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike of of scuttling moves by the party to zone its 2023 presidential ticket to the South East.
Its spokesperson, Charles Aniagwu said Wike influenced the zoning committee headed by his friend and Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom to declare the contest open to all, against the popular wish of micro zoning to the South-East, thinking he could muscle everyone to win the party primary.
Speaking on a live television programme, Aniagwu who is also Commissioner of Information in Delta State said the ongoing crisis in the party was caused by Wike’s inordinate ambition to be President next year.
He said Wike’s anger at Atiku Abubakar following his emergence as presidential candidate from the north was misplaced because his friend Samuel Ortom was the chairman of PDP’s zoning committee just before the primary was conducted and that it was not Atiku who made it open for every candidate irrespective of region to contest, but Ortom.
“In our quest for peace we have allowed the danger of the single story to persist. When the party set up a Zoning Committee it was headed by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue and a member of the G-5 Governors. The Committee threw the ticket open for the best to emerge and Atiku Abubakar was considered the most qualified to lead Nigeria’s rescue and rebuilding mission. ..When the issue of zoning was discussed, you know that Ortom was the chairman of the zoning committee. Atiku Abubakar was interested in micro zoning to the South East but it was the same Nyesom Wike that frustrated it because he wanted to contest.
“It was not Atiku that made the zoning open to people to just go and contest. In this case, there was a contest between the South and the North, and Atiku was considered by members of the party as the man capable of leading Nigerians out of the woods.”
On calls for disciplinary measures against the ‘rebel’ governors, Aniagwu said the party was taking its time to ensure that all avenues for peace and compromise were explored.
He said the party would continue to appeal to the G-5 governors to return home and join hands in the rescue mission project.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has berated the All Progressives Congress ( APC) presidential, Bola Tinubu, over his statement on his reported meeting with aggrieved governors of the opposition party in London.
Atiku, in a statement by his Special Assistant, on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, yesterday, said Tinubu did not say the truth about his reported London meeting with the G-5 governors.