Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike claimed on Tuesday that former President Goodluck Jonathan begged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to support his re-election effort in 2015, but the Adamawa-born politician refused.
Wike made the remarks during the commissioning of the Akpabu-Itu-Umudiogha road in Rivers’ Emohua Local Government Area by Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi.
According to him, Jonathan went to London’s Dorchester Hotel in 2015 to meet Atiku, but the former VP “embarrassed” Jonathan and instructed him to return his ticket to him.
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Wike, who ran in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary won by Atiku in May, said he will not urge Atiku to stand down as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
Instead, he believes Atiku should facilitate the removal of PDP national chairman Iyorchia Ayu in favor of a southern replacement.
The Rivers governor said, “We forget history. In 2015 when Jonathan as a sitting President, I am not talking as a presidential candidate but as a sitting President, when he had won his primary, Jonathan went to London to Dorchester Hotel, he went to plead with Atiku Abubakar to come back to the party and support him.
“You know the condition he (Atiku) gave Jonathan? He should relinquish his ticket not to run as the President of Nigeria. That was the presidential candidate of a ruling party. He gave him a condition, telling him to relinquish that ticket.
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“Today, we are not saying the presidential candidate should relinquish his ticket; we are not being selfish, we are saying since you are now the presidential candidate, let our people take chairmanship.”
Jonathan, the PDP’s presidential candidate in 2015, was defeated in re-election by All Progressives Congress contender Muhammadu Buhari (APC).
On November 17, Atiku and his running partner, Ifeanyi Okowa, paid a visit to Jonathan at his Abuja residence in an attempt to resolve the PDP dispute, but the former President has not been heard from since.
With the 2023 presidential election just three months away, there are concerns that intra-party squabbles between Wike and Atiku for the chairmanship of Ayu may harm Wike’s chances in the polls next February.
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Wike and four other PDP governors, known as the G5 or the Integrity Group, want Benue-born Ayu to step aside in order for a southerner to take over the party’s control in the north.
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