Why Wike, Others Are Rooting For Saraki As PDP Chairman
Some prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are moving to convince former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to contest the party’s chairmanship.
It was gathered that some senators and governors in the party are already making overtures to the former Kwara State governor to take the lead in re-positioning the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It was also gathered that the visit of Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to Saraki during the week may not be unconnected with the plan to convince Saraki to lead the party.
It was also learnt that Wike, who is serving in the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, is not planning to leave the PDP, but prefer to work with other members to make the party strong again.
A source said: “Wike’s group has declared that they will not leave the party, rather they would work to retain their influence in the party. And one of the ways to do this is to be part of the power groups that will determine the future of the party by influencing who leads the party from next year.”
“Since the train, which is working to elect Saraki is moving fast and getting more passengers on board, they need to quickly jump on it and be part of the forces that will propel the train to a successful destination.
“Failure to do this will lead to the emergence of a hostile chairman who may move against them. They know Saraki as a bridge builder, who has the capacity to bring all warring groups together. They also see him as somebody they can trust to be neutral aside having the capacity and resources to rebuild the party.”
The source also disclosed that despite pressure on Saraki to begin moves to lead the party, the former Kwara State governor is yet to make up his mind, imploring party faithful pushing the agenda to wait till after the verdict of Supreme Court on the presidential election.
But some members of the party are said to have agreed that either way the case goes, the next assignment is for PDP to resolve its leadership crisis and promote genuine reconciliation.
