PDP Crisis: Wike’s Camp Fires Atiku in Fresh Statement, Details Emerge

• The crisis in Nigeria's main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), raged on Sunday, March 30, 2025
• The turmoil, which began as a fallout of the presidential primary election in May 2022, shows no signs of abating
• Lere Olayinka, media aide to Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), said former Vice President Atiku Abubakar cannot be trusted politically

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance.

FCT, Abuja - Lere Olayinka, the federal capital territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike's senior special assistant on public communications and social media, has claimed that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar "lied" in a recent interview.

Olayinka said Atiku lied by claiming that he picked the former governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election based on a report of the committee set up by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to select its vice-presidential candidate.

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Olayinka stated that Wike was never keen about being Atiku's running mate because of the 'enormous pieces of baggage he is carrying', adding that the minister had no regret working against him (Atiku) in the 2023 presidential election. He described the statement issued by the media office of the presidential hopeful as face-saving and "an attempt to use further lies to defend Atiku's previous lies."

In a statement on Sunday, March 30, Olayinka said Atiku simply picked who he wanted, not who the party wanted.

The minister's aide said:

"Committees, consultations, and recommendations are advisory in nature. The final decision rests solely and exclusively with the presidential candidate, in this case, Atiku Abubakar. It is a constitutional and strategic choice, not a popularity contest,' Atiku's media office has confirmed that their principal actually lied and never had any regard for the PDP as a party.

"It therefore gladdens our hearts that we have been able to establish that Atiku lied and he is not a man to be trusted. That he chose to lie during the Holy Month of Ramadan is however between him and Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala).

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"As for his choice of running mate in 2019 and 2023, it is our position that Atiku, as the PDP candidate had the right to make whatever choice, and he should be able to defend his choice and be honest for once to accept the consequences, not trying to misrepresent facts to justify the choice he made."

The statement continued:

"It is also to be reiterated that just as Atiku, the loser in the election has said he has no regret over the choice he made, Wike too has no regret over his choice.

"Therefore, no one is harboring any personal ill-feeling against Atiku for failing with the choice he made, and no one should also harbour ill-feeling against Wike for succeeding with the choice he made.

"Also, as for us, no ego is bruised, no bitterness too. Just a clear case of we making our choice and you making your own choice. But more than two years after, you are now trying to defend your own choice of failure with lies."

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It concluded:

"On the PDP and the task of rebuilding it, it is necessary for Atiku to first come clear as to which party he belongs now because PDP has not formed a coalition with any political party. Most importantly, his penchant for seeking to contest the presidential election under any available party has remained PDP's major albatross."

Read more on Atiku vs Wike:

• Atiku launches scathing attack on Wike and “his T-Pain collaborators”
• PDP crisis: “Why Wike is angry with Atiku,” Dele Momodu spills in trending interview

“Your days in PDP are numbered”, Atiku tells Wike

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Atiku said Wike deceived some PDP chieftains into committing political damage.

Atiku’s special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, said betrayal, hypocrisy, and deception were part of Wike’s DNA and that was why he had lost relevance outside Rivers state and had become nothing but a bull in a China shop.

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2027 presidency: “What Wike will do to Atiku,” Minister’s aide speaks

Shaibu lambasted Wike for saying he opposed Atiku’s candidacy for altruistic reasons and the unity of Nigeria.

Source: Legit.ng