SaharaReporters had reported that the main opposition party was hit by a major crisis after its presidential primary that enthroned the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s candidate in the 2023 election.
As cracks in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continue to widen, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has slammed the former governor of Niger State, Aliyu Babangida, describing him as an empty barrel.
SaharaReporters had reported that the main opposition party was hit by a major crisis after its presidential primary that enthroned the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s candidate in the 2023 election.
Wike and Atiku fell out after the party’s presidential primary election was won by the latter. The crisis deepened after Atiku picked the Governor of Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate, shunning the advice given by some party chieftains that he should pick Wike.
SaharaReporters reported that as efforts to reconcile the duo intensified, Wike's camp reached an agreement with Atiku's camp during a meeting in London. Part of that agreement was that PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, will resign his position for a southerner.
Ayu has however failed to resign. He had described Wike and his brother governors in the South as “children” and the Rivers governor had fired back that the “children” brought the former senator from the gutters and made him the PDP national chairman.
The former Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida has been one of Ayu's supporters.
He has described Wike as lacking the temperament to be a true leader.
Meanwhile, Wike has accused Aliyu of working against the party in 2015 for ethnic interests.
Wike, who spoke at the inauguration of the Ahoada campus of Rivers State University, which was performed by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Thursday, said, “Nigerians may forget, but such an empty barrel; one man they call Aliyu Babangida, he came out on national television to say somebody (meaning Wike) is destroying the party because he didn’t win the presidential primary. That’s an insult.
“This is the same man who came out on television and said that they, governors from the north, agreed to fail President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 because they felt it was the turn for the north.
“The same man said they agreed to make sure PDP lost the election because they felt it was their own turn to produce the president.
‘That’s a lie, he said that I’m trying to destroy the party because I didn’t win the primary. For Christ’s sake, in a contest there must be a winner, there must be a loser. I have no regrets.
“We contested the election very well and we are not ashamed. If Aliyu knew he was important and strong he would have picked form, let us deal with him.”
However, on Thursday, the National Executive Council passed a vote of confidence on Ayu.
Wike, however, has insisted that Atiku must obey an agreement by stepping down, even though the party's Board of Trustees Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, a northern had stepped down for a southerner to assume the position.