The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has narrated how Peter Obi, now presidential candidate of the Labour Party, was forced out of the main opposition party by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State was warming up to contest the PDP presidential primary election before the party’s leadership decided to throw it open for the Northern and Southern aspirants.
There were initial deliberations of the party which tilted towards zoning the presidential ticket to the South but recent information from the PDP claims the plan was thwarted after Governor Wike refused to allow the South East to have it.
For this reason, Obi decided to dump the main opposition party for the Labour Party where he has emerged as one of the frontline contenders for the nation’s number one seat.
Appearing on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Wednesday morning, Daniel Bwala, a Spokesperson for the Atiku/Okowa, Campaign Organisation, explained, ” The Peoples Democratic Party was planning for the primaries, there were, I don’t want to use agitation, advocacy and people felt it should be shifted to the South East.
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“The conversation started growing, it started reverberating to a point where Atiku said if the party was inclined to zoning, he is of the opinion that it should be zoned to the South East or North East because these are the zones that have not benefited and that if it was zoned to the South East, he was not going to contest.
“But Gov Wike, who has an interest in running for President, started by removing Uche Secondus as the Chairman of the party before that time.
“And during this time of advocacy and deliberation, Governor Wike ensured that the committee formed to deliberate on the structure of the party and the presidency zoning came out with the findings that support his ambition at the party’s chairmanship level whether it would go to the North or thereabout.
“He was thinking that if the Chairman comes from the north it was natural the presidential candidate would come from the South.
“When it came to the presidential poll, he ensured that the outcome left the people’s poll because of the growing conversation that it should be zoned to the South East when it was agreed that it would go to the South.
“When Obi saw that it was thrown open, he knew he couldn’t challenge gladiators in the party and so he left. Again Peter ought to have been the leader of the party in Anambra but he was frustrated by the command and control of Governor Wike.”