A former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, has claimed that the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is under pressure to withdraw support for allies of loyalists of Nyesom Wike running election.
According to Metuh, the former Vice President is resisting pressures to pull the rug from under the feet of Wike’s loyalists.
Recall that the Wike camp had vowed not to partake in Atiku’s campaign activities pending the resignation of the party’s National Chairman.
Naija News learned that the Wike camp made the decisions at a strategic meeting held in Port Harcourt in the early hours of Wednesday.
It was gathered that the Wike Camp decided to hold the meeting following the vote of confidence passed on Ayu as the party’s national chairman by the National Executive Committee (NEC) despite their demand for his resignation.
In a resolution read by a former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Bode George, the Wike camp insisted that its members will not work with Atiku until Ayu resigns and allow an acting Chairman from the South to lead the party.
George stated that the Wike camp stated that their position was not negotiable as the continued stay of Ayu as the part chairman undermines the unity and constitution of the party.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Metuh accused some associates of Atiku of piling pressure on the party’s presidential candidate to pull support from candidates aligned to Wike and his loyalists.
He said: “If you are actually working for Atiku to win the presidency you cannot be insisting on a chairman because the president when he is elected can always change a chairman whether he is acting or elected, he has enough influence to change him.
“But if you are actively working for him to fail, you are wishing him not to win or you don’t believe that he will win, then we can understand why you are fighting for the issue.”
The former opposition party national publicity secretary stated that the Governor Wike camp has failed in articulating their agitation through the right channel.
According to Metuh: “If you want the chairman not to continue, then engineer the party to ask him, engineer the National Executive Committee, engineer the National Caucus, engineer the leadership of the party to ask him, then he will resign.
“But when you are outside and issue press statements it is not the party that is talking, it is an individual or group of friends that are talking.”
Metuh said: “Now supposing the candidate of the party buckles to pressure to give directive against some people running in the election aligned to those who say they are withdrawing from his campaign council and ask his people to withdraw from their own campaigns? Won’t it be chaos?
“I am aware that there is a lot of pressure asking him to issue the same statement against those people but he has not. That is where we admire the patience, tolerance, the accommodating qualities of Atiku. Any other person would have taken a hard stance. He has not used any foul language. He has not taken any hard stance. He has been accommodating. They pushed him to London, he went to London.”
He stated that Nigeria needs Atiku’s father figure as the presidential candidate has constantly rejected moves to go against Wike’s allies.
“People will come to him, let us fight these men he will say no. It is obvious that Nigeria needs such a father figure, a tolerant person.
In the midst of insults, in the midst of provocations, indeed undue provocations because things that can be discussed inside the house are being thrown about and being marketed,” Metuh added.
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