Atiku’s Delegation Arrive Port Harcourt for Meeting with Wike

A three-member delegation dispatched by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, arrived Port Harcourt Thursday evening for a meeting on Friday with Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his allies in the crisis rocking the opposition party.

In the delegation led by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri are a former governorship candidate of the party in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, and Akilu Indabawa, a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Atiku sent the delegation after a 14-member committee he set up with Mr Wike to explore grounds for reconciliation between the two men failed to meet as scheduled on Monday.

The meeting did not hold due to a disagreement over venue. While members of the committee appointed by Atiku wanted the committee to sit in Abuja, Mr Wike’s team insisted on Port Harcourt.

Following the stalemate, the committee rescheduled the meeting for Friday, even though there was still no agreement on the venue.

However, to demonstrate his commitment for reconciliation with Mr Wike, Atiku on Thursday dispatched the smaller delegation to meet the seven representatives of the governor’s camp who had been in Port Harcourt since Monday.

A source in the delegation disclosed that it was well-received by the governor’s people and that arrangements were being made for the meeting tomorrow.

“We have received very positive signals from them and we are confident more than ever before that this crisis will soon be resolved,” the source said.

On why Atiku cut the size of the delegation, the source said: “You know in matters like this, too many cooks can spoil the broth. It is an intra-party crisis and Waziri believes that the reconciliation can be better done by a compact team.”