PDP: Pro-Wike Group Lobby Atiku For Vice Presidential Slot To Secure S/South Votes

As the deadline for submission of names of candidates and their vice to INEC approaches, loyalists of Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, have commenced multi-level strategic moves towards securing the vice presidential slot of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for him.

The pro-Wike group, Patriotic Parliamentarians Front (PPF), said in a statement on Tuesday that much progress is already being quietly achieved in the North with the mobilization for Southern votes now a major concern.

According to the group, two members of the PDP in the House of Representatives – former Deputy Minority Leader, Honourable Chukwuka Wilson Onyema and Honourable Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP, Kogi state) are activating pro-Atiku/Wike elements in the Senate, the lower House and state legislatures for active mobilization while VIP teams have already commenced talks with political heavyweights in various states across the North and Southern parts of Nigeria.

The PPF’s spokesman, Alhaji Mohammed Maikano, said objective assessments made by the group deeply asserts the significance of South-South votes for PDP’s 2023 electoral victory, adding that there is no doubt that Governor Nyesom Wike will be key to the party’s 2023 election game plan.

“Our calculation based on exhaustive studies, is that no one in the entire South-South geopolitical zone can surpass the vote and other strategic resources that can be mobilized towards achieving victory for Atiku/PDP in the 2023 elections; in past elections, Governor Nyesom Wike had defied great odds and consistently delivered the highest quantum of votes for PDP in the entire South-South geopolitical zone.

“Governor Nyesom Wike’s formidable networks and resourcefulness made very impressive impact in a first attempt for the presidency; his extensive networks across the South-South, South-East and all states being controlled by non-PDP governors add to the fact that he resolutely kept PDP alive when other governors were hesitant.

“Governor Wike’s grassroots political roots from being a populist chairman at Obio/Akpor LGA, his keen capacity for tramwork and loyalty to Sir Peter Odili, as Chief of Staff to Rivers State governor, as junior Education minister to Prof. Ruqquayatu Rufai, under the Goodluck Jonathan administration are verifiable testimonies to what he can do.

“One easily recalls that during his tenure as substantive Education Minister, he delivered the Nomadic Education Schools across the North while there were massive infrastructural developments in that sector nationwide.

“Merit, capacity, rich nationwide network of contacts and resourcefulness are among factors that make Wike, a former National President of ALGON such a dynamic complement towards actualizing PDP’s electoral victory in next year’s presidential elections,” the group emphasized.