August 24, (THEWILL) – The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has departed Nigeria to meet Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, in London.
THEWILL, in an exclusive report on Tuesday, said the former vice-president has taken direct charge of reconciliation talks between himself and Wike, in resolving the post convention Crisis of the PDP.
Confirming the report, TheCable, on Wednesday, quoted a source close to Atiku, who disclosed that the PDP presidential candidate and Wike will meet face to face at a reconciliation talks on Thursday, in London.
“The PDP presidential candidate headed for London today after arriving Paris yesterday. He is billed to meet with Wike tomorrow in an attempt to resolve the issues between them”, the source said.
Atiku’s trip to London came a day after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), reportedly met with the Rivers governor in London.
THEWILL had reported that the direct meeting between the former vice-president and Wike, is coming after attempts by the reconciliation committee set up to interphase between the two leaders failed.
Recall that a three-member delegation from Atiku, on Friday, met with that of Wike in Port Harcourt.
Atiku had constituted the delegation after a 14-member committee he earlier set up to interface with Wike’s team failed to meet.
The PDP has been in turmoil since it held its presidential primary election on 28th May, 2022. While Atiku had emerged the presidential flag bearer of the party, his choice of a running mate, sparked mistrust among the PDP party members.
The emergence of Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as Vice-Presidential Candidate of the PDP, had further polarised the party into two major camps – the aggrieved members, led by Wike and the the other, perceived supporters of the former Vice President.
Wike is also aggrieved that he was also treated with disrespect by Atiku and his camp by their media statements.
While he accused Atiku of lying against him that he made overtures through phone calls and text messages, Wike insisted that there was no real move for any dialogue.
However, part of major demands by the Wike-led camp, is the restructuring of the leadership of the party.
By this, the National chairman of the party, Iyochia Ayu, has been asked by the Wike’s camp to resign his position to pave way for a southern national chairman, since Atiku, a northerner, has emerged the presidential candidate of the party.
