PDP campaign: We expect Wike to work for Atiku’s victory in Rivers

Oladimeji Fabiyi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council, says Atiku Abubakar, the standard-bearer, will win the majority of votes in Rivers state. 

Fabiyi, deputy director, volunteer management, PDP campaign, spoke on Tuesday when he was featured on 2023 Verdict, a programme on Channels Television.

He said as a member of the PDP, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers is expected to work for the victory of Abubakar and other members contesting elections in the state.

“He (Wike) is still a member of the PDP and we expect that he deliver Atiku and all other candidates in that state,” Fabiyi said.

“He has to deliver. He is a member of PDP, he has to work for PDP. Atiku will win Rivers state in this presidential election — go and write it down. Rivers is a PDP state. We have our traditional supporters in their millions there. So, governor Wike will do the needful. We believe he will do the needful.”

On Monday, the PDP cancelled its planned rally in Rivers, citing attacks on members of the campaign team.

The party has also had a rough time securing a venue for its presidential campaign rally in the state.

In January, the Rivers state government revoked its approval of Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium for the party’s presidential campaign rally over an alleged plot to share the facility with the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The main opposition party is grappling with a division in its fold after the conduct of its primaries.

A group of five governors led by Wike is against the presidential bid of Atiku arguing that his choice goes against the agreement to zone the presidency to the south. 

Wike and his allies — including Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu — have excluded themselves from the party’s presidential campaign over calls for Iyorchia Ayu to step down as the party’s national chairperson.

The calls for Ayu’s resignation, according to the group, are based on the grounds that the presidential candidate and the national chairperson cannot be from the same region.