2023: PDP in Disarray, Wike in Trouble as Pro-Atiku Forces Move to Organise 10-Million-Man-March in Rivers
- Ahead of the 2023 general election, the internal crisis rocking the opposition PDP is not getting solved anytime soon
- This is as the flagbearer of the party, Atiku Abubakar's strong loyalists have taken bold moves against Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike
- Interestingly, following the reconciliation move by the leadership of the PDP, Wike's camp has listed conditions to support Atiku in the coming polls
Apart from the internal crisis arising from the fallout of its presidential election primary, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s chances of victory in some state chapters are threatened by intra-party problems.
in the buildup of the 2023 general elections, some of the controversies, Sunday Vanguard gathered, preceded the party primaries held between last May and June while others are outcomes of the selection process for candidates.
The contentions are such that have left party chieftains and their supporters divided and disillusioned.
Source: Facebook
The states affected
In some states, the incumbent governors are in the middle of the troubles while some National Assembly, NASS, members are principal actors in others.
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For instance, in Abia, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Oyo and Abia, the state governors have been variously fingered in the internal squabbles.
Some of the states have already witnessed the defection of party heavyweights and their supporters to parties like Labour Party, LP, and New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, thus depleting PDP’s strength ahead of the 2023 elections.
PDP chieftains react
Some chieftains who didn’t dump the party confided in Sunday Vanguard that they may likely support other parties during the general elections. Others are indifferent.
Meanwhile, forces loyal to the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in Rivers State, where Governor Nyesom Wike hails from, have moved against the governor who is at the centre of the crisis rocking the opposition party at the national level.
Amid reconciliation efforts, however, Wike has been romancing opposition figures, the latest being the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr Peter Obi respectively, who he parleyed with abroad last week, a situation that raised questions about whether he may defect from the PDP.
Legit.ng gathered that at the weekend that anti-Wike forces are organizing a 10-million-man-march for Atiku in the coming days in Rivers and the five other states of the Niger Delta.
Last Wednesday, the national chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, had said the PDP was sure of winning 25 governorship seats – a declaration that somewhat confirmed the unhealthy state of affairs in some state chapters.
He made the assertion when the National Working Committee (NWC), of the PDP had an interactive session with the party’s gubernatorial candidates in Abuja.
After meeting with Atiku in UK, Wike, Ortom, Ikpeazu arrive Port Harcourt
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has arrived in Port Harcourt from the United Kingdom (UK).
Wike was accompanied by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state on Friday, August 26.
During their time in the UK, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors met with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
2023: Yellow card for PDP, Atiku as Wike's strong man, joins APC
Legit.ng earlier reported that an ally of Nyesome Wike, the Rivers state governor, Prince Sudor Nwiyo, has resigned his membership from the PDP.
Nwiyo, who is the director general of the Wike Solidarity Movement (WSM), joined the APC, alleging that money is only shared with members of the PDP who joined from APC to make them stay.
It was not clear if Wike is in support of this move considering his romance with the APC leaders at the national level, but Nwiyo promised to collapse the structure of the WSM to the APC since he has left the PDP.
Source: Legit.ng
