Chuks Onicha
As part of the reconciliation moves in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, have met with the PDP senate caucus and those of the House of Representatives Tuesday night.
The two legs of the meeting became necessary as the National Assembly had also scheduled to proceed on a long break after its session today.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting was part of the ongoing reconciliations following the fallout of the PDP presidential primary election and the nomination of Okowa as Atiku’s presidential running mate.
Atiku confirmed the meeting on his verified tweeter handle.
According to the PDP presidential candidate, the meeting took place Tuesday night and issues of unity of the party was discussed.
Atiku said of the meeting: “Last night, my Vice Presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi A. Okowa, our National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu and I met with the PDP Senate Caucus led by Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Philip Aduda. It was a fruitful meeting that focused on the unity of our party ahead of the 2023 election.”
Also, yesterday, Ayu led the National Working Committee (NWC) meeting with all the party’s states chairmen at its Secretariat in Abuja.
Though the outcome of the meeting was not officially made public, a chairman from one of the South-south states, told THISDAY that the meeting was about how to achieve reconciliations in the party ahead of the 2023.
According to the source, “Since it was the first official meeting with the Ayu-led NWC, we outlined areas of grievances and how to move the party forward, starting with the Osun State governorship victory as a stepping stone.
“We believe that with a united party, there is nothing that cannot be done to ensure victory for PDP. The meeting ended on a sweet note as the leadership of the party agreed to be calling a regular meeting to decide issues than relying on former this and former that, who are not in tune with developments in the states for decision making,” the source stated.
However, the Rivers State chairman, it was gathered, was absent, however, was not unrelated to the grievances of Governor Nyesom Wike of the state, who is the leader of the party in the state.
Wike, who has not spoken since he lost the running mate slot almost two months ago, has caused anxiety in the party, and this was heightened over the weeks as he has allegedly refused to pick calls from Atiku and his camp or participate in the party’s activities.
