With none accepted out of the many peace offerings sacrificed to pacify angry Rivers Gov Nyesom Wike who has been acting a bad loser since Abubakar Atiku became the party presidential candidate, there’s no more hiding the fact the PDP is divided against itself.
It is just a matter of when it will collapse before the 2023 presidential election.
While the PDP legends are putting down their feet on party supremacy, warning Wike cannot loom larger than the party, the most powerful clique in the party have broken into factions, three recognizable so far.
According to reports, there are groups for the protagonist, the villain, and the sidekick in the drama.
No fewer than five governors are siding with Atiku: Sokoto’s Aminu Tambuwal; Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed; Delta’s Ifeanyi Okowa; Taraba’s Darius Ishaku; and Bayelsa’s Duoye Diri. Many of these were present physically while two were represented at the last NEC meeting the party had on Thursday in Abuja.
On Wike’s side, the loyalists are not difficult to pinpoint: Oyo’s Seyi Makinde; Abia Okezie Ikpeaazu; Enugu’s Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The lots have jetted to London an Turkey and France to hold many secret meetings. One of the in Wike’s innermost circle, Benue’s Gov. Sam Ortom is a troubled man who still finds it difficult to choose a side.
Ortom was among those who championed the election of former Sen. President Iyorchia Ayu, his tribesman, as the party’s national chairman. He’s not sure what to do as his boss Wike asks for Ayu’s skull—or there will be no truce.
Naturally, my of them backing Atiku have insisted Ayu is the legitimate chairman of the party.
Two of the governors, however, remain on the fence. Party insiders call Edo’s Gov. Godwin Obaseki and his Akwa Ibom counterpart Emmanuel Udom spies.
Things are not yet cast in stone, either. The change may likely come as some loyal to Wike think again. It’s about the party—not an individual.
Ugwuanyi has been identified as the weakest link in the Wike chain of command. He doesn’t like the manner Wike is prostituting his vantage position. Wike has been hobnobbing with other parties’ presidential candidates, including APC’s Bola Tinubu and LP’s Peter Obi.