Presidency 2023: Atiku’s loses, Tinubu, Obi gains

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has been losing significantly in the preparations for the 2023 general elections following the irreconcilable conflict in the party involving an aggrieved group led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers  State. The conflict has taken five southern governors and other prominent leaders, including former governors, out of the Atiku presidential camapign, including threats not to support Atiku in the 2023 presidential elections.

The allied governors with Wike include Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and Samuel Ortom of Benue State. other allies include former Governors Donald Duke of Cross River State, Segun Mimiko of Ondo State, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, as well as Chief Bode George from Lagos State, Prof. Jerry Gana from Niger State, Chief Dan Orbih from Edo State, among others.

The losses of Atiku conversely translate to gains for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.  Since the conflict in the PDP, Tinubu has been talking with confidence, even though there are also conflicts in the APC. The LP presidential candidate has been the greater beneficiary of the PDP conflict. Obi has gained over 30% bloc votes of the PDP, many of which were procured through the Obidient movement.

Moreover, Wike has been revealed to be  funding 9 states  where the PDP is in opposition across the country, which include Ebonyi, Imo, Kogi, Ekiti, Ondo, Cross River, a faction in Edo, a faction in Lagos, and Gombe states.

The holding on to the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, against the demand of the Wike group for his resignation is already having devastating effects on the PDP towards the 2023 elections.