Paul Ibe, the spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, revealed that Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), played a significant role in Peter Obi’s departure from the party.
Atiku had advocated for the PDP to allocate the 2023 presidential ticket to the Southeast, but Wike opposed this decision.
Peter Obi, who was the PDP’s vice presidential candidate in the 2019 election, left the party for the Labour Party (LP) in preparation for the 2023 presidential election, where he garnered over six million votes.
Following the defeat of the PDP and LP by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, the primary opposition party is still grappling with internal conflicts.
Despite the ongoing crisis, Ibe mentioned that Atiku was willing to allocate the PDP’s presidential ticket to the Southeast.
During an interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s Mic On podcast, Ibe highlighted that Wike obstructed the party’s efforts to allocate the presidential ticket to the Southeast.
Ibe clarified that Atiku did not push Peter Obi out of the party, attributing Obi’s exit to Wike’s support for the presidency to be zoned to the south.
Atiku had expressed his willingness to step aside from the ticket if the party decided to zone it to the southeast, but Wike’s opposition hindered this process, as he believed that a southern, not southeastern, zoning would benefit his chances of securing the ticket.
