A former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State, Muazu Magaji has reacted the cold relationship between Governor Nyesom Wike and the party’s presidential flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.
Kano PDP Chieftain Reacts To Cold Relationship Between Atiku, Wike
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Magaji said Atiku did not promise Wike the vice presidential slot.
He said, “I want to reiterate that there is no evidence that Atiku promised Wike the vice-presidency. Wike is a stakeholder and everybody that has importance is important in this delivery.
“We need to understand that this is not a personal property. I keep referring to the institution. There is no way. We do not have evidence. There is no individual who will say I have closed door (meeting) with the presidential candidate and he says, ‘Look, I will give you my vice-president’.
“The vice president pick is a prerogative of the candidate and it is a process… One of the fears is that if an individual will be going behind a structure, an institution within the system to get what he wants, then, we cannot trust the same individual as a principal actor on the commonwealth of the Nigerian people.”
The relationship between Atiku and Wike grew cold after Atiku won the PDP presidential primary election in May.
Wike, since losing the PDP presidential primary ticket to the former vice president and the eventual selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as running mate instead of him, has been demanding the resignation of PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
According to the governor, the presidential candidate of the party and the national chairman can not come from the same zone – the North.
Atiku hails from Adamawa (North -East) while Ayu comes from Benue (North-Central)
The governor based his call on a supposed agreement that if the presidential candidate emerges from the north, then the national chairman steps down or resigns.
But Ayu has refused to resign, saying he was duly voted at the national convention.
His refusal to step down has made the Rivers governor to withdraw his support for Atiku.
Only few days ago, the governor and his camp comprising Governor Seyi Makinde, PDP chieftain, Bode George, former governors Jonah Jang, Donald Duke among others announced their withdrawal from the PDP presidential campaign council just few days to its inauguration.
They were also absent at the inauguration of the campaign on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kanyi Daily had reported that Atiku had appointed Bukola Saraki, Anyim Pius Anyim and Uche Secondus as Advisers for his presidential campaign council.