A committee constituted by the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to explore grounds for reconciliation have met in Port Harcourt the capital of Rivers State on Friday.
A video obtained shows the two parties representing Atiku and Wike. The delegation of the Wike’s camp was led by former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, while that of Atiku was led by Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri.
Others present at the meeting include, former governors Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and his counterpart in Cross River, Donald Duke; former Attorney-General of the Federation, (AGF), Bello Adoke and former PDP governorship candidate in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede (SAN).
Speaking after the meeting, Fintiri said, “…at the end of the day, we will broker peace and unify the party and Nigerians.”
But, a top-placed source disclosed to our reporter under condition of anonymity that there is still wrangling.
“They met and are to meet again. They have started the reconciliation process and hope to unite the party and unite the nation. That is the official position,” the source said.
We gathered that unofficially, there is no agreement on the main issue, which is the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu.
The Atiku group are expected to return to brief their principal, while the Wike group insisted that the resignation of Ayu was the most sensible, fair and just thing to do.
This is coming after the PDP’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr. Walid Jibrin, has urged the Atiku and Wike’s teams to sheath their sword.
It would be recalled that Jibrin stressed that it was important for both politicians’ camps to allow efforts being put in place to resolve the party’s internal crisis
The BoT chairman made the call in a statement on Thursday. Jibrin noted that it was time both camps see the internal crisis as a “misunderstanding” and not a “problem.”
The statement partly read, “I wish to call on all members of PDP and all Nigerians to remain calm and never create bad blood and confusion on the state of our party. All efforts are on the ground to reconciliation between Wike, the party, and the presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“What is happening now should never be categorise as a problem but misunderstanding within the party. In this period leading to the 2023 elections, we should concentrate on how to win all positions to be contested and seriously adhere to the provision of the party constitution.
“My strong advice is for us to give strong support to the present Reconciliation committee set up to resolve all issues,” he said.
