High-wired political negotiations and horse-trading ahead of the 2023 presidential election continued on Thursday as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, met Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, in London, who has turned the most sought-after bride. Others at the meeting were Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, and Senator Olaka Nwaogu.
Wike, a major stakeholder in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been having a running battle with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and efforts to reconcile both men have not yielded any positive result with just six months to the presidential election.
The rift between the duo started after the governor’s ambition of becoming the party’s vice presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections failed following the emergence of Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as Atiku’s running mate.
Wike and his associates had demanded the resignation of the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, as the first condition for reconciliation, but Atiku and some party leaders refused to accede to the request.
Details of the meeting was not made public but an aide of Obasanjo said it was aimed at soliciting Wike’s support for Obi’s presidential ambition.
According to him, Obasanjo, who is very passionate about the unity of Nigeria, believes it is the turn of the South-East to produce the next president of Nigeria in the spirit of justice, equity and fairness.
“From all indications, it is about the 2023 presidential election. Everybody wants the support of Wike who has made it clear that he will not support his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
“Baba (Obasanjo) believes in the unity of this country and his desire is that a politician from the South-East extraction becomes the next president in 2023. As you know, no Igbo man has occupied the highest political office in the land since the restoration of democracy in 1999”.
On the visit by other presidential candidates to Obasanjo, the aide said there was nothing unusual about it as they are free to notify him and seek his blessings.
“As an elder statesman and former military head of state and two-term president, there is nothing wrong in various candidates visiting Baba for prayers and advice. But he also has a right to support anyone he desires”, he said.
