A meeting between members of the People’s Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, ended in a deadlock on Tuesday.
The almost four-hour meeting held behind closed doors at the Government House, Port Harcourt ended around 4.35 pm.
The PDP BoT acting Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, who briefed journalists, said though they had a frank discussion, a conclusion had not been reached.
Wabara expressed happiness that members of his delegation heard from Wike, saying they would return to Abuja to expand the discussions.
He said, “We have been rubbing minds for the past four hours with the Rivers State Governor.
“We have not concluded. You know it is always easy to discuss but making peace takes some time. But I think we are better informed.
“We have gotten some new information. Every coin has two sides. We have been briefed by Wike. We will go back to Abuja to digest all that we have gathered from the Governor. And we had very frank talks.
“One good thing is that this family remains one. We are still under that umbrella called PDP and by the special grace of God, we will end up victorious at the villa in 2023 with Wike’s cooperation and support of all the other governors.”
Asked if no headway was made at the meeting, Wabara said, “Progress was made. In concrete terms, it is work-in-progress, and as I said, we will get there.”
Speaking, Wike reiterated his membership of the party and said peace was paramount, even as he corroborated the message of Wabara on the outcome of the meeting.
The Rivers State Governor, however, noted that even though there were still issues, what was important was the unity of the PDP.
“What is important is that the house is united for a war that is coming in front. So, the issue of whether they achieve peace today or not is immaterial. What matters is, at the end of the day, the PDP is united.
“But that does not mean there are no internal issues to be sorted out,” the governor said.
Asked if he was hopeful of reconciliation, he answered in the affirmative.
Meanwhile, there was mild drama before the meeting started, as the governor initially wanted an open meeting to be covered by the media.
He had reportedly asked Wabara if the meeting should be open to the media but the latter said the meeting should be private.
But Wike said no, stressing that it was important for the world to know what transpired so that the kernel would not be distorted.
Wike referred to the meeting he and four of his counterpart governors held in Enugu last week where it was later reported that they agreed to support the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
