Atiku Abubakar’s special assistant on public communications, Phrank Shaibu, has played down the importance of River State Governor Nyesom Wike in the upcoming presidential election.
According to what Shaibu claimed on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, Wike only has one vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Wike, the head of the G-5 governors who are dissatisfied with how the PDP conducts its activities, stated a week ago that the opportunity for reconciliation was drawing to a close and would soon be lost.
Since then, the G-5 governors—while still members of the PDP—have been shacking up with Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
However, during his appearance on the show, Shaibu stated that Atiku had no personal issue with WIke and that he had moved on with his campaign programmes in preparation for the February elections while still promoting peace.
He said: “The interesting thing is that our campaign has moved on. We said, in the beginning, it’s about Nigeria; it’s not just about the PDP.
“Atiku Abubakar does not have a personal problem with him [Wike]. A few hours ago, I read in the media when he said, ‘we’ve almost closed the negotiation window with the PDP.’
“Common, you may choose to close the window, but the door is still there because my candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is not a criminal. So, he does not need to pass through the window; he comes through the door.
“The issue is PDP is one big family… It’s not about Governor Wike. Governor Wike is just one governor, one member of the PDP, and he has only one vote, so also are the other four governors who are members of the G-5 governors.
“So, we look forward to a situation where we will all come together and if they join the train because the train is moving and we are cruising at a very good altitude, it could be a day to the election, it could be one month to the election, it could be 39 days to the election and they decide to join the team and work with the team, it’s all good and fine.”
