Atiku vs Wike – We Still Have Time, One Day Is Like Eternity – Ologbondiyan

A spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council, Kola Ologbondiyan says the party still has enough time to resolve its internal crisis before the 2023 elections.

According to him, the camp of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and those of the aggrieved Governors led by Nyesom Wike have both expressed openness to the idea of a reconciliation.

Ologbondiyan said what only remains is to harmonize their ideas of reconciliation.

Naija News understands he stated this on Sunday during an interview appearance on Channels Television where he stated that there is still enough time ahead of the 2023 elections to reconcile all aggrieved stakeholders.

It will be recalled that Wike and his other allies including Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, are demanding the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of the PDP and his replacement with a southerner.

According to them, that is the only condition that can make them support Atiku’s 2023 presidential bid.

The development has polarized the party with fears that it may affect the fortunes of the party during the actual elections.

But Ologbondiyan on Sunday expressed hope that all issues can be resolved before next year’s elections, saying there’s still enough time for reconciliation.

He said the fact that all those involved are open to reconciliation has even made the task ahead very easy and the time for political decisions to be made may not always follow conventional timing.

“As a matter of fact, when I read in the social media at the end of the meeting of the governors that they have opened the window of reconciliation, what came to my mind was that a few days ago when the candidate of the party Atiku Abubakar met with the guild of editors in Lagos, he was very emphatic about his readiness for reconciliation,” he said.

He added that; “And even today after this meeting when I had the opportunity to hold a discussion with him he was still very emphatic about the fact that the disposition of the governors as well as the members of this group tallies with his own position which is that — let us reconcile and pull together, not just in our own interest, but the collective interest of ordinary Nigerians who have been going through pains, anguish and sufferings under the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“So it is not just about party leaders, it’s about the ordinary Nigerians out there are thinking about: How they want the economy to be revamped, how they want unity, how they want the nation to be secured. These are the issues.

“Luckily for us in the PDP, we still have time — the election is in February, we are in November.

“I know in a political environment — one day, 24 hours — is like an eternity. So for us, we have enough room, enough time to harmonise within ourselves. And I am glad that even the governors are saying that they want reconciliation. The candidate says he wants reconciliation. So what is just there is the harmonization of the reconciliation.”