Source Reveals What Atiku Discussed With PDP Leaders During Closed-door Meeting In Abuja

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar held a closed-door meeting on Saturday with some of his allies in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in order to prevent former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike from hijacking the leadership of the party, a source has claimed.

Naija News earlier reported that Atiku on Saturday attended a crucial meeting of leaders and stakeholders of the PDP in Abuja which according to him was productive and had a lot of collaborative energy.

Though Atiku did not disclose further details about what transpired during the meeting, a source told Daily Trust on Sunday that the meeting was called to discuss how to make one of the ex-governors succeed Iyorchia Ayu as the PDP National Chairman.

According to the source, loyalists of Atiku within the party were the ones who attended the meeting and that is why the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) members were not invited.

It was further revealed that the aim of the meeting is to prevent Wike from hijacking the PDP structure and making one of his men the national chairman.

“They want to put one of their own as the national chairman of the party. They don’t want a situation where someone like the former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and his loyalists will take over the party.

“He (Wike) wants to be a minister and also controls the PDP, if that happens, the party is finished,” the source said.

It would be recalled that in March this year, the executive committee of Igyorov ward in Benue State suspended Ayu as a member of the PDP for alleged anti-party activities.

Justice W. I Kpochi of the Benue State High Court had also in March issued an interim injunction restraining Ayu from parading himself as the national chairman of the party based on a suit instituted by a member of the party in Benue, Terhide Utaan.

The party later appointed its deputy national chairman (North), Umar Damagun, as its acting chairman.

In the build-up to the 2023 presidential elections, the G5-governors led by former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike had asked Ayu to resign his position as national chairman following Atiku’s emergence as the PDP’s presidential candidate.

The G5-governors had argued that the North could not hold produce the party’s national chairman and the presidential candidate.

The G5-governors were Wike, Okezie Ikpeazu, (Abia) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Samuel Ortom (Benue).