PDP demands panel to plead with Wike and ask the government to dismiss Okowa.

 PDP demands panel to plead with Wike and ask the government to dismiss Okowa.

Gov. Nyesom Woke and Gov. Ifeany Okowa

The Peoples Democratic Party conflict has been resolved under conditions laid out by Nyesom Wike's supporters, the governor of Rivers State.

In separate interviews with The  media, the governor's supporters said Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, should reconsider his choice of Dr. Ifeanyi Okonwa as his running mate and drop him. Okonwa was selected last month.

Senator Walid Jibrin, the chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, announced that the party had formed a nine-member team to implore Wike as the situation surrounding Atiku's running mate grew more dire.

Following his triumph at the PDP convention, when he defeated Wike and other candidates for the presidential ticket, Atiku chose Okowa as his running mate despite a 17-man party committee's suggestion that Wike be the candidate.

Okowa's selection as the party's vice presidential candidate had drawn criticism from a number of party chieftains, including Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State, Jonah Jang, and others.

There were rumors on Friday that Wike turned down Atiku ally and former minister of police affairs Adamu Waziri when he tried to start peace talks with him in Turkey.

In an effort to appease the irate Governor and persuade him not to leave the party, the party on Sunday also established a second panel, this one led by Atiku.

Wike did not deserve the treatment he received from Atiku and the PDP, according to Confidence Deko, the chairman of the Gokana Local Government Area in Rivers State, in a conversation with one of our Port Harcourt correspondents.

"In my opinion, Wike has done so much for the PDP that I don't think he deserves what the party handed him," he declared. Actually, Atiku Abubakar and the party requested that the National Working Committee determine who would be the vice president. He (Atiku) disregarded the report that was provided and chose Ifeanyi Okowa, the governor of the Delta State.

"I'm not saying he shouldn't use someone, but I believe that if he had been one of the people who asked the NWC to look into who should be the vice-president and they had given him their proposal, he would have followed it.

But it seems quite strange to me that right after I gave him the report, he went and announced Okowa. Wike didn't merit what Atiku did to him, in my opinion.

Prior to the presidential election, the council chief revealed that Wike's supporters were eagerly awaiting his choice and political course.

Regarding Jonah Jang, a former governor of Plateau State, and his remarks regarding the PDP's prospects in 2023 given the ongoing instability, If Okowa ought to be replaced, according to Deko, the man wasn't joking.

"He has informed you, and you have heard the truth from him," he continued. You already know that Wike is a highly pragmatic person, so if Atiku were to run for president, Wike would make a strong vice president. And he follows his mind's instructions.

"The only thing to do is to proclaim Wike and kick Okowa out of that area. Wike received the most votes from the South-South in 2019.

In a similar vein, several Wike-supporting members of the House of Representatives asserted that the PDP's selection of Okowa as its running partner ensured its defeat.

In separate interviews with The PUNCH on Sunday, PDP lawmakers also criticized Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the party's national chairman, for his part in the chaos that preceded the opposition party's presidential primary.

Teejay Yusuf, a member of the House from Kogi State, responded that it might be conceivable if the presidential candidate could recognize the value the Rivers governor would bring to the PDP ticket.

That will be the candidate's choice, he said. That would be within his right to do. I have no right to make that suggestion to him. Why not, if Wike will increase the ticket's worth, and he says, "With the way things are, I can handle the ripple effect of removing Okowa out?"

"Okowa is a PDP governor, but no one can doubt that Wike has the motivation and the power to turn this party around.

However, the lawmaker ruled out the prospect that Wike, whom he referred to as "a party man," would leave the PDP for another party or collaborate with a different party or presidential candidate covertly.