Worried by the danger posed to his ambition in next year’s presidential election by the camp of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has offered the governor a new deal.
Both men met on Thursday in Abuja in a fresh bid to patch up their differences, with Atiku promising to support Wike’s own presidential bid in 2027 if he (Wike) agreed to sheathe his sword and support him (Atiku) in the 2023 election.
The duo and their supporters have been locked in a face-off since June when the former vice president overlooked Wike and picked Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.
Previous efforts to reconcile them had failed to yield any positive result.
Atiku even appeared to have decided to ignore Wike, and proceeded with his campaign while the Rivers State Governor and his supporters threatened to have nothing to do with the Atiku presidential campaign.
Five of the 11 state governors elected on the platform of PDP are in Wike’s camp, leading to a major crack in the party.
However, a fresh effort brought them together on Thursday where Atiku pleaded with Wike to prevail on his camp to join the campaign train of PDP.
Sources close to the meeting said the PDP presidential candidate offered to back Wike for the presidency in 2027
Wike was non-committal to Atiku because of past breaches of commitment, it was gathered.
