The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has appealed to party stakeholders and supporters to avoid making statements capable of compromising the party’s unity.
The appeal comes as former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, called on the PDP to forget about Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, saying he has no control over the people of Rivers State, following peace moves by Atiku to get Wike onboard his candidacy.
The plea was made in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, in Abuja, possibly worried that such statements from Lamido could frustrate the reconciliation efforts made by the Atiku camp to get Wike onboard.
Abubakar urged stakeholders and his followers to avoid statements that compromise the on-going works towards further strengthening the party and unite its leaders.
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The presidential candidate said it was imperative to appeal to all party members, leaders and everyone associated with him to desist from making comments that potentially reduces the party’s image as a united entity.
“This appeal becomes necessary to call the attention of party leaders and members to the diversionary antics of the ruling party, in manufacturing a false impression of division within the PDP,” the statement reads.
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Abubakar said it was aimed at hoodwinking the Nigerian public to overlook the ruling party’s challenges.
He said that today, Nigerians look up to the PDP to return to power, “hence the jitters by the ruling party ahead of the 2023 general election.
“It is also the very reason why the ruling party is manipulating the political process to create a sense of division in the PDP.
“It is for this reason that I appeal to every true member of the PDP and anyone who truly wishes for the success of the PDP presidential candidate to not fall for the antics of the APC in making statements that could give credence to the false claim of division in the PDP, ” he said.
He said that all PDP leaders, including governors, especially Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers, were united in working for the victory of the PDP in next year’s general election across board.
“What is at stake in next year’s election is the future of Nigeria, and all leaders and members of the PDP are on the same page in the mission to rescue Nigeria,” Abubakar said.
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‘We should forget about Wike’ – Sule Lamido
Lamido who is a member of the Atiku camp in the simmering PDP civil war, in an interview with Channels TV earlier in the week, dismissed efforts made at getting Gov Wike to support Atiku, saying the PDP should ignore the Rivers Governor, as he will become politically irrelevant after his tenure elapses.
“We should forget about Wike,” Lamido responded when he was asked about Wike’s influence on residents of Rivers State.
“Wike is an individual, I don’t think because he is a governor there he has control and monopoly over the peoples of Rivers,” he said.
“Right now, if you go to Rivers, there were 13 governorship aspirants for the governorship candidate in Rivers State, it was Wike who imposed the current candidate.
“The others are there complaining and screaming. I saw him on TV talking the other day, he was very bombastic. He was saying that he would not allow this and that.
“In the next eight months, he will become a political destitute like me.”
He further fired, “Wike is an individual. I don’t think because he is a governor, then he has the monopoly and control over Rivers. He does not have it. He is always speaking because he is a bluff. The people of Rivers State are in PDP in their own right.
“Because he is now a governor, he can appropriate sovereignty and become an emperor because he is a governor. It cannot work. There is a Wike in every part of the country. Leave Wike alone. He can give orders to Rivers people if they are enslaved to him. If they are his slaves— fair enough, he is their emperor, let him give orders.”
Wike fires back
Wike, in response to Lamido’s statement, said he (Lamido) has lost relevance, accusing the ex-Jigawa governor of contributing to PDP’s loss of the presidency in 2015.
“It is rather appalling that at a time when concerted efforts are being made by lovers of true democracy and the unity of the party, to resolve some inherent contradictions plaguing the PDP, Alhaji Lamido and his cohorts, who have since lost their relevance in the polity, are busy creating friction and schism.
“Under Lamido’s watch, as a governor of Jigawa State in 2015, the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, scored a total 648,045 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Malam Aminu Ringim, who scored a total 479, 447 votes. Worst still, in 2019, governor Abubakar polled 810,933, while the PDP candidate scored 288,356.
“Such records depict that Alhaji Lamido cannot and does not have such political following that will benefit the PDP. Those who want electoral victory for the PDP are not dampening the morale required for a political offensive at APC, but Alhaji Lamido is cracking the wall of unity badly,” Wike said.