Rivers State Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike seems to have gotten strong commitment from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar that the PDP National Chairman, Iyiochia Ayu be removed, in the face of his obvious relunctance to do so.
Metronetworknews gathered that Wike was able to press Atiku into committing himself to remove Ayu and allow him produce his replacement with someone from the South West Zone, during the face to face meeting between the duo , which was held in London, recently.
It also gathered that the governor extracted a commitment from the Presidential candidate that Ayu should be accommodated in the new PDP government when it will formed.
It further learnt that Wike boxed the presidential candidate to yield to his demand to produce the Senate President, some Principal officers of the National Assembly, key ministerial positions as well as the headship of Federal parastatals and agencies if the party wins the 2023 general elections.
It is however unclear if Atiku yielded to the demand by Wike to serve for a single term to allow for power to shift to the south to assuage feeling of betrayal of southerners.
Furthermore, the medium gathered that the governor agreed to provide logistics for the general campaign for Atiku/Okowa ticket, in return.
A source at the meeting said that Atiku was left with little room to negotiate, owing to the open solicitation by the candidates of the Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Peter Obi and Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, respectively.
Meanwhile, Governor Wike, has confirmed his meetings with Peoples Democratic Party, presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo in London,
The governor who made the confirmation when he interacted with journalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area, shortly on arrival from London on Friday, explained that topmost on the agenda was how to make Nigeria better than what is it currently.
“I can confirm that this is the first time as a team that we are meeting with presidential candidates. We met with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC and we met with our leader, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We met the presidential candidate of Labour Party. We also met with our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. For whatever it’s worth, consultation is ongoing.
“Whatever we are talking about, is for the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. It is not parochial and tied to one person or group of persons. We believe that with what is going on, it will be for the interest of Nigerians at the end of the day”, he said.
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