PDP Govs Reach Out To Wike, As Obasanjo Meets Tambuwal

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta home, the Ogun State capital yesterday.

While Tambuwal met with Obasanjo behind closed doors, the Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike also met with some PDP governors and other party members in Abuja.

The Abuja meeting, LEADERSHIP learnt, bothered on the friction over the by-passing of Wike for presidential running mate slot by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate.

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Recall that Atiku’s choice of Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, despite a preference by some party leaders for Wike, had infuriated the Rivers State governor.
While reconciliatory moves were said to be ongoing, the situation deteriorated after Wike accused Atiku of lying in an interview the latter granted Arise TV on the reconciliatory efforts.
However, Tambuwal, who arrived at the Penthouse residence of the former president, located within the precinct of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) around 1: 30p.m yesterday afternoon, headed straight into the meeting with his host.
The governor, who was a presidential aspirant, during the PDP primary, was accompanied to Abeokuta meeting by some of his key aides all of whom joined the meeting which lasted over an hour.

Though details of the meeting still remain sketchy as at the time of filing this report, an anonymous source closer to the venue of the meeting however, disclosed that Tambuwa’s meeting may not be unconnected with happenings in the country, particularly that the year 2023 general elections is around the corner.

Tambuwal, who eventually emerged from the venue of the meeting however, briefly hinted that he was in Abeokuta to discuss,’’issues of national importance with the former president.”

The governor, alongside members of his entourage however, later took their launch and headed for the mosque located within the OOPL to observe the Salat prayers before leaving the OOPL complex.

Meanwhile, the Abuja meeting also held behind closed doors at the Rivers State Governors Lodge, was the first since the party’s presidential primaries.

A member of the PDP Board of Trustees and North Central Coordinator of the Wike Presidential campaign, Prof. Jerry Gana, who spoke briefly after the closed door meeting which lasted over an hour said, “This is the first meeting we are holding with all our candidates in the states after the primaries. We are united and are one.

“We know that developments will unfold and when they do, we shall brief Nigerians.”

However, a source familiar with what transpired behind closed doors said, “Members only reviewed what transpired during the primary and what our next line of action should be since no one has deemed it fit to sit down with our principal and discuss like genuine party men should.”

Those at the meeting include Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state and Governor of Enugu state Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Others are: former governor of Cross River State Donald Duke; former governor of some Benue State Gabriel Suswam; former Ondo State governor Olusegun Mimiko, former Bayelsa state governor Seriake Dickson, Ibrahim Idris of Kogi state and former Plateau state governor Jonah Jang.

Others include: former PDP deputy national vice chairman North, Senator Suleiman Nazif, former attorney general and minister for Justice, Adoke, member of the House of Representatives from Kogi State, Tajudeen Yusuf among others.