….He’s paying the price for betraying the PDP in 2003, 2007, and 2014, and destined not to be Nigeria’s President
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been advised that the People Democratic Party, PDP, presidential ticket is henceforth reserved for loyal members, excluding those with a history of betraying the party, who now face the repercussions of their actions.
Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, urged Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to give up his 2027 presidential bid under PDP, saying, ‘His Excellency and those promoting his candidacy for personal benefits should allow the PDP to move forward.’
Wike announced during a live media session in Abuja on Wednesday that Atiku, who ran for president on the PDP ticket in 2023, would not be able to secure the party’s 2027 presidential nomination.
Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s Media Aide, stated that Atiku’s defeat of Wike to secure the 2023 PDP presidential ticket, as well as his 2019 victory over Aminu Tambuwal, formerly Governor of Sokoto State, demonstrated his strength.
In a Thursday statement, Olayinka derided Atiku’s celebration of his slim and contentious primary victory over Wike in 2022 as childish and comedic, comparing it to the enthusiastic response of Arsenal fans to a narrow triumph over Super Falcons.
He said; “That Atiku is venerating himself for contesting PDP ticket with Wike and Tambuwal, people who were just a little above 25 as at 1993, when he contested the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential primary and came third, is the more reason he needs to go home and rest and stop acting like the proverbial cock that failed to realize that it is now elderly.”
Olayinka described Atiku as someone not destined to be Nigeria’s president, stating, ‘It is obvious he is paying the price for betraying the PDP in 2003, 2007, and 2014. If not, the presidency he contested twice and lost could have been his for the taking if he had avoided being overly ambitious as Vice President.’
“It was this desperation that made him to contest for president as candidate of Action Congress in 2007, while still serving as Vice President, elected under the platform of the PDP. A serving Vice President joining others to form another party and contesting as candidate of the new party against his own party. That’s Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
“Most importantly, Atiku’s conscience will continue to prick him on his roles in Lagos in 2023, and I am sure that even his apology to PDP members in 2018 can never remove from his body, that garment of betrayal.
“Therefore, it is again being sounded to his ears and those of the people lying to him that he is the only one who can win the presidency for the PDP that the ticket of the party will not be for someone like him, who will lose election and run to Dubai, only to come back two years to another election.”
