The Peoples Democratic Party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, and presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar are attempting to overcome their differences, but it looks that the situation is still far from finished.
Following Ifeanyi Okowa’s selection as the party’s vice presidential candidate, people like Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose have voiced their displeasure.
The disgruntled members pointed out that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is the legitimate candidate for the position because he received the endorsement of 14 out of the 17 members of the committee assembled to choose the PDP’s vice presidential candidate.
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According to a source who spoke with Sun, six governors who were elected on the party’s platform are opposed to Atiku’s bid for the presidency.
Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Ishaku Darius of Taraba, and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State were among the governors named in the source as being unwilling to endorse Atiku.
The insider claims that Ayu’s failure to zone the party’s presidential ticket to the south is what initially caused the issue.
The source said, “When it was obvious that Ayu wasn’t ready to listen and zone the presidential ticket to the South, governors and other leaders decided to leave the contest open. But they agreed to support a Southern aspirant, but people like Okowa, Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and other people, especially from the South-South, started working to ensure that a Northern candidate emerged.”
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He continued by saying that after Governor Wike failed to win the party’s nomination for president, party leaders decided that the governor of Rivers State should be chosen as the vice-presidential candidate.
According to the source, Ayu and Atiku ignored the six governors when they met with them to choose Wike as the preferred candidate.
He mentioned that the six governors who disagreed with Atiku’s choice had decided not to participate actively in his presidential campaign.
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