The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has visited one of his close rivals during the PDP prmaries, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in Abuja on Monday.
Atiku had defeated Wike at the PDP’s presidential primary in Abuja on Saturday night.
With Wike yet to issue a congratulatory message, Atiku however visited the governor to call for unity for the benefit of the PDP.
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The reconciliation meeting was attended by former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and other PDP leaders.
Speaking after the meeting Atiku said;
“In continuation of my commitment to bring everyone on board in ensuring that the PDP stands as one united party, earlier today, I visited His Excellency Gov Nyseom Wike at his Abuja residence. This is a continuous process.”
Atiku had on Saturday pledged to work with defeated aspirants and give them a sense of belonging.
He said: “Let me also use this opportunity to call on my fellow contestants and to assure them that I am ready to cooperate and work with them and give them a sense of belonging in this party and our next government.
“Therefore, my fellow compatriots, I want to appreciate your efforts in deepening our democratic processes in this party. It was a well-fought primary election.
“So, I commend you for that and I look forward to working with you very closely so that together we can build this party to a level where we can take over the government.”
Fresh reports have revealed that leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other top politicians particularly in the North have begun a fence-mending strategy to strengthen the candidature of Atiku Abubakar and the chances of the party ahead of the February 2023 election.
Although Governor Nyesom Wike, who was beaten to the second position at Saturday’s presidential primary, had assured that he would work with whoever emerged as candidate, National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, has initiated moves to achieve very rapid reconciliation.
The reconciliation moves, it was revealed on Sunday has begun to yield results, as the Ayu-led team met with Wike, Atiku and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal and other key stakeholders.
Also emerging is the attempt to use the choice of vice presidential candidate to further heal the political injuries recorded before and during the primary election.
Two zones, the South East and South South have been mentioned in previous discussions relating to the choice of the running mate. However, many are of the view that the choice of vice presidential candidate should not emerge from considerations such as past and present loyalty to the presidential candidate.
“What is topical and crucial to the issue of reconciliation now is how we can apply all factors, including the issues of choice of vice presidential candidate to political healing. It has been suggested in meetings before and after yesterday’s presidential primary election that the party and its leaders must be actively involved in the process of selecting the running mate to Atiku. We must avoid a situation that suggests that only those who were in his political camp could contribute to the discussion on how to appoint the vice president candidate,” a member of PDP NEC said.