Politics
Amid Wike Chaos, PDP Starts Atiku Campaign
Published
3 years agoon
By
Editor
Considers Abuja, Asaba Or Yola For Flag-off
Despite the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the party is going ahead with preparations for the commencement of its presidential campaign for the 2023 general elections, without the embattled Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and members of his team.
This is as the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, assured that disagreement among members would be resolved very soon.
Wike and his supporters had, on Wednesday, pulled out of the Campaign Council of the party’s presidential candidate and vowed not to play any role until the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, resigned.
However, Vanguard learnt that the PDP, which has fixed Wednesday, September 28, for the inauguration of the Campaign Council, is considering three states/ venues for the flag-off.
READ ALSO: Wike: Strong Goliaths Will Be Defeated, Atiku Vows, Fires Tinubu
The presidential and National Assembly campaigns begin the same Wednesday, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable, and will run through Thursday, February 23, 2023, while the elections proper hold Saturday, February 25, 2023.
A party insider familiar with the development said the PDP was putting finishing touches to drawing up the programme of events for the inauguration as well as logistics.
“For now, Abuja, where we will be inaugurating the Campaign Council, Uyo, Asaba and Yola are among the venues being considered. We are taking a lot of things into consideration.
“We have not settled for a venue because our candidate is still moving around meeting zonal caucuses to hear from each one of them directly”, the source revealed.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, who is currently in Uyo with members of the National Working Committee and other party leaders, told Vanguard on the phone that the party was going ahead with its plans and programmes.
He said, “Our programmes are going ahead as planned, nothing has changed. The date for the inauguration of our campaign council is already known, we will make the venue and time for the flag-off public when we are ready.”
The PDP has been enmeshed in internal rumblings since after its presidential primary election in May which Atiku, a former vice president, won.
The decision of Wike, who finished second in the primary, and his supporters not to be part of the presidential campaign has further widened the cracks in the party.
Divided Party
While the PDP standard bearer is doing everything to unite the party for the forthcoming elections, the state chapters have remained divided.
It is understood that in Cross Rivers State, while a former governor and member of the reconciliation committee, Mr Liyel Imoke, is in the camp of Atiku, another former governor, Mr Donald Duke, is in Wike’s camp.
Findings also showed that in Lagos State, while a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, is in bed with Wike who, he said, was fighting for justice and equity in the PDP, the party’s governorship candidate in the 2023 elections, Olajide ‘Jandor’ Adediran, is with Atiku.
And whereas the governor-elect in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is with the Atiku group, a governorship aspirant in the last election, Dotun Babayemi, has joined the Wike group.
In Ekiti, those in the Atiku camp include former deputy governors Kolapo Olusola Eleka, Dr Sikiru Lawal, and Senator Abiodun Olujimi. Others are the factional state chairman, Deji Ogunsakin, a former PDP chairman, Gboyega Oguntuase, PDP State Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju, state Woman Leader, Sade Akinrinmade, former Deputy Speaker, Segun Adewumi and former House of Assembly member, Hon. Samuel Omotosho.
READ ALSO: Wike Reveals Why Atiku Won’t Be President
Those in Wike’s camp include former Gov. Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Lere Olayinka, all party candidates except Senator Olujimi, former acting Gov. Tunji Odeyemi and the Secretary, Elders Council, Mr. Idowu Odeyemi.
In Ondo State, while the two-term governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is with Wike, his political son and former governorship candidate of the PDP in the state, Eyitayo Jegede, is a staunch ally of Atiku.
Also, a former deputy governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi, who was in the same camp with Mimiko during the last governorship election in Ondo, is not on the same page with him this time around. Ajayi is with Atiku even as he’s contesting for the Senate seat in Ondo South.
Many leaders of the party in the state are not at home with the support Jegede is giving to Atiku and the make-belief that the party in the state is lining up behind Atiku.
Those who spoke with Sunday Vanguard in confidence recalled how Wike and Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State bankrolled Jegede’s governorship election in 2020 and also supported the PDP while Atiku ignored the party during its trying times after Jegede lost the election to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Sunday Vanguard’s findings further revealed that in Edo State, while Governor Godwin Obaseki is undecided, the South-South zonal Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, is on the side of Wike.
Sources said the Atiku camp and that of the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, desperate to win over Orbih from Wike by recognizing his faction against that of Obaseki, has yielded no fruit.
In Ogun State, the party’s governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, his running mate, Abdulkabir Akinlade, and the Sikirulahi Ogundele-led executive are with Atiku while others queue behind Wike.
Whereas in Oyo, Governor Seyi Makinde is one of the arrowheads of Ayu must go and vicariously with Wike, many party leaders in the state are rooting for Atiku.
Disagreement will be resolved soon – Atiku
Meanwhile, Atiku has described it as family issues, challenges bedevilling the party and assured that they would soon be resolved.
He gave the assurance on Friday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, during the 35th-anniversary celebration of the creation of the state.
Represented by the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, and Governor of Sokoto State, Alh. Aminu Tambuwal, Atiku appealed to the people to support the PDP to return to power at the centre and also to remain in power in the state.
READ ALSO: wikeAyu: I Will Fight To Finish, Wike Insists
His words: “I urge Akwa Ibom people to continue their support for the governor to finish strong. I believe also that with your support, Pastor Umo Eno, will emerge as your next governor. We believe that there should be continuity of PDP in Akwa Ibom while our party will return to power in 2023.
“Yes, we must acknowledge that we are having internal family issues, but be rest assured that we are not involved or engaged in the war of attrition.
“It is a political disagreement and very soon, all of that will be resolved and the PDP will remain stronger, until we win the election, by the grace of God, come February 2023.”
VANGUARD
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Politics
VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview
Published
3 hours agoon
June 14, 2025By
Editor
Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.
In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.
According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.
He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.
READ ALSO: Nigeria No Longer A Democracy, Peter Obi Laments
“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”
He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.
“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.
“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.
READ ALSO: Teen Who Stood In Front Of Peter Obi’s Convoy Freed After Months In Kirikiri
“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.
“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.
The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.
The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.
Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.
Watch video below:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202
Politics
Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst
Published
2 days agoon
June 12, 2025By
Editor
Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.
In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.
“People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.
Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.
READ ALSO: I Don’t Want To Join Issues With Children, Amaechi Hits Back At Wike
While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.
“If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.
Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.
“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.
READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Gov. Mohammed Advocates Unity, Good Governance
He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.
Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.
The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.
“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.
Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.
Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.
Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.
But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.
“We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.

A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s with the overall best graduating CGPA of 4.98, Chizoba Ejiofor, has secured a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship.
Education advocate and tech entrepreneur Alex Onyia, who made this known on social media on Thursday, said he had taken responsibility for supporting Ejiofor after the university failed to award him the promised N50,000 prize for academic excellence.
“I have a good news. A very good news. You remember Chizoba Ejiofor, who graduated as UNN overall best graduating student with CGPA of 4.98, that UNN refused to fulfill the N50k price promised to him?
READ ALSO: Crisis Brews In UNN As Court Restrains Varsity From Conducting Convocation Election
“I took him up as a full responsibility. We started working tirelessly together since last year to secure a fully funded scholarship, and today we have the good news,” Onyia wrote.
Onyia revealed that Ejiofor was awarded a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship, valued at over £33,000. The package includes tuition, flight tickets, and monthly stipends.
“This is fully funded scholarship from Commonwealth. Over 33 thousand pounds in scholarship, flight tickets and monthly stipends inclusive. No one can describe how happy and fulfilled I am today,” he added.
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