The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up a nine-man committee to resolve the discontent in the party over the choice of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as vice presidential candidate.
Many stakeholders had rooted for Wike, who came second to Atiku during the presidential primary of the party to serve as the vice presidential candidate.
The advisory committee which was set up by the party to pick a suitable party stalwart for the position, reportedly came up with the name of Wike as the candidate.
However, Atiku picked Okowa, an ally as his running mate instead.
The development did not go down well with Wike’s camp.
Key allies of the Rivers State governor including Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor, have openly expressed their disappointment of the matter, which analysts said, could undermine the party’s chance ahead of the 2023 election.
In a move to resolve the crisis, the PDP through the Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, announced a nine-member reconciliation committee headed by the presidential candidate to work on the relationship between Wike and the party.
The committee was supposed to visit Wike in the coming days over the development.
The committee also comprises of Okowa, Ayu and his National Working Committee (NWC); BoT members; PDP governors; former governors; ex-PDP minister and some party elders from zones and states.
In a statement, Jibrin cautioned members against actions that could further polarsed the party ahead of the next election.
The statement reads, “This was in view of great concern and great sense of feeling on the various recent comments coming from some of our PDP members and some prominent Nigerians on the choice of Chief Okowa, the Governor of Delta State as the vice-presidential candidate by the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of our party, PDP, the biggest party not only in Nigeria but the whole of Africa.
“All the comments and various submissions are very normal in any political set-up in Nigeria today with PDP being the strongest and most prominent party that has all potential to form government in 2023.
“We must come back to our senses by all our members and all most responsible and respectful Nigerians by giving total support to the party to enable it to form government by holding all political positions in Nigeria in 2023.
“It is, therefore, very necessary that when our Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and our National Chairman, Senator Iyochia Ayu return to Nigeria very soon from abroad, the following must be done immediately:
“A very important visit must be undertaken to Governor Wike comprising of the following group: The above committee should be headed by the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“It is very important to note that Governor Wike is a very responsible and very obedient member of PDP, who assisted tremendously toward building the party to what it is today. We must, therefore, encourage him to never leave the party.”
