Governor Wike Will Not Support Atiku, Fayose Says, Gives Reason

• The PDP is now a full crisis as former Governor Ayo Fayose said Atiku Abubakar, the party's presidential candidate, will not get the support of Nyesom Wike
• Fayose said Atiku promised to make Wike his running mate after winning the presidential primary but went on to pick Governor Okowa
• The former governor of Ekiti also said he will abandon Governor Wike if he later changes his mind and support Atiku

Former Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, says he believes Nyesom Wike, Rivers state governor, will never support the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

Premium Times reported that Fayose said this in an interview on Wednesday, June 29, adding that power must shift to the southern part of Nigeria in 2023 after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.

Read also

Wike speaks amid rumoured meeting with Tinubu in France, shares photo

Atiku promised Wike VP ticket, says Fayose

The former governor also recounted how Atiku allegedly promised to make Governor Wike his running mate after he was declared winner of the PDP presidential primary election.

He said Atiku failed to fulfil his promise to the Rivers state governor when he settled for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state as his running mate.

His words:

“Wike never said he wanted to be VP, but when Atiku visited him, he was the one who said, ‘I want you to be my VP’. He said that to Wike. If that then changes, is Wike not supposed to be told? Is he not supposed to know?”

Atiku ignored PDP committee's recommendation

Fayose recalled that Atiku had ignored the recommendation of a committee set up by the opposition party to pick his running mate.

Read also

Fresh details about Tinubu, Wike's alleged planned meeting emerge

He said:

“PDP set up a committee to recommend a running mate for the candidate and the committee voted and picked Wike, but they didn’t comply with the recommendation of the committee.”

“If the party is now a one-man show, we will show them that we can resist it. We are with Wike 100 per cent.

“When they need Wike’s money and Wike’s support, they will say, ‘Wike is good enough’. Wike has been injured, but we will remain with him. Whatever he does is what we would do; wherever he asks us to go is where we will go.”

Wike will never ask us to support Atiku, says Fayose

When asked what would happen should Governor Wike ask them to support Atiku, the former governor said:

“Wike will never say we should support Atiku.

“Wike cannot come out to say he is supporting Atiku. I dare him to say so; because he knows that whatever he says will haunt him forever. If Wike supports Atiku, we will abandon him.”

Read also

Where was Atiku in 2015? PDP faces mass defection as Wike's loyalists fume, reveal their next action

Atiku reacts via media aide

Paul Ibe, Atiku’s spokesperson, said his principal and the party will continue to appeal to aggrieved persons within their fold to embrace dialogue, according to Premium Times.

He said:

“Because the bigger challenge is winning the election, kicking out the APC and stopping them from the many years of impoverishing our people.

“It is normal for our people to be aggrieved but the PDP has a way of resolving issues like this and that will be done and we all shall be happy.”

2023: Fayose dumps Atiku, says it’s southern president or nothing

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Fayose publicly dumped the PDP's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Fayose in a shocking move took to his Twitter handle on Wednesday, June 29 to say that it's the turn of a southerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

The implication of Fayose’s tweet is that he will not be supporting the PDP’s presidential candidate who is from Adamawa, a northern state in Nigeria.

Source: Legit.ng