August 19, (THEWILL) – A three-member delegation of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday, met with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt.
The meeting was held behind closed doors at Wike’s private residence.
Both parties met after the delegation had earlier met with Wike’s camp on Friday, also in a closed-door meeting at the government house in Port Harcourt.
The meeting between both camps is believed to be part of efforts to reconcile Atiku and Wike.
The members of Atiku’s delegation were Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa state; Adamu Waziri, former minister of police affairs, and Eyitayo Jegede, former PDP governorship candidate in Ondo state.
Those on Wike’s team included Mohammed Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation; Donald Duke, former governor of Cross River; Olusegun Mimiko, former governor of Ondo state, and Ibrahim Dankwambo, former governor of Sokoto state.
Atiku constituted the delegation after a 14-member committee he earlier set up to interface with Wike’s team failed to meet.
Speaking after the meeting, Fintiri, who led Abubakar’s delegation, said discussions have been opened to broker peace.
“We are aware that Nigerians are anxious and waiting for PDP to take over the government in 2023. We have met as leaders, members of the same political family and we have opened the discussion, work is in progress and we will continue. At the end of the day, we will broker peace and we will unify the party and Nigerians”, he said.
Also speaking, Mimiko said reconciliation is in progress and the members of the committees will meet again for subsequent discussion.
“We have agreed that there is a need for us to enhance unity within our party. This is a reconciliation process, there are some issues out there which need further deliberation when the committees meet again”, he said.
The delegation was in Rivers State, Port Harcourt, to meet the governor to resolve major differences following the conduct of the party’s presidential primary.
The cracks in the PDP widened after Atiku Abubakar named Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta State, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
Apart from being overlooked by Atiku for the VP’s position, Wike is aggrieved that he was also treated with disrespect by Atiku and his camp by their media statements.
He also accused Atiku of lying against him and that he made overtures through phone calls and text messages, insisting that there was no real move for any dialogue.
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