FLASHBACK: I will support Atiku Abubakar wholeheartedly, whoever wins the PDP Presidential Primary Election — Governor Wike
Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State and a former presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), reaffirmed that he would uphold his commitment to support Atiku Abubakar as the party’s nominee for president in the 2023 elections.
Recall that Wike pledged his support to whoever won the election for the PDP’s presidential standard bearer on May 28, 2022, just before voting began. Atiku, a former vice president, won the presidential primary election with 371 votes, defeating Wike, who received 237 votes in the Federal Capital Territory’s MKO Abiola Stadium.
A few hours later, Atiku paid the Rivers governor a visit at his home in Abuja to extend a hand of friendship and ask for his support in the 2023 presidential election. In response to Atiku’s visit, Governor Wike wrote on his verified Facebook page that the PDP can not be abandoned and that he will fully support the former vice president, as he had previously stated.
“I made a promise to the Official Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria that I would support whoever won the PDPP presidential primaries, and I am not going to break that promise,” he wrote.
“We will support Atiku Abubakar wholeheartedly, and we can not leave the PDP.” But Wike and four other PDP governors who felt mistreated have stopped supporting Atiku, arguing that the party’s nominee and national chairman can not be from the same region (the North).
Governor Wike Makes Big Announcements, Tell Rivers People Who To Vote For
In the interests of equity, justice, and fairness, the governors—also known as the G5—have requested that Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP national chairman, step down from his position.
