… Says himself, Wike not planning to dump party
By Emmanuel Obisue
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has blamed the seeming crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on the failure of its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and the party to reach out to Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in the aftermath of the party’s presidential primaries.
Ortom who made this revelation on Thursday morning in an interview on Arise TV, said he was one of those who begged Wike to accept the Vice President slot after he missed out on securing the ticket for President at the party’s primary.
“We thought Wike was the right person to get the ticket, but he did not. Then the issue of vice president came. I was one of the people that tried to convince Wike that he wanted to be president, but God did not make it possible, there is nothing wrong in asking to be vice president.
“The party needed to have reached out to him to pacify him,” he stated, adding that the opposition party must now put its house in order and ensure to carry everyone along.
He however assured that himself and Wike, after having a robust discussion during his recent trip to the UK and US, have resolved that they would remain in the party and not decamp, as widely speculated.
On why he was absent at the recently conducted governorship election in Osun State, Ortom said he was out of the country at the time for a pre-planned trip, but was ably represented by his deputy.
He added that Atiku has asked him to reach out to Wike to help fix a date for peace talks, which according to him, will happen anytime soon.
