TheCable

Sam Ohuabunwa, former presidential hopeful of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the concerns raised by Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, are genuine.

He said Wike’s demands are hitched on justice and equity, adding that he is not “crying for no substantial reason”.

The crisis in the PDP followed the outcome of its presidential primary election held in May.

Party stakeholders expressed concerns that Atiku Abubakar ignored Wike after he chose Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate.

Wike reportedly demanded that Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, should resign his position.

Reacting to this development on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday, Ohuabunwa said the leadership of the party should “appreciate Wike’s circumstances”.

He said if the party had zoned the presidential ticket to the southern part of the country, discord would not have hit the party.

“If you can empathise with the situation of the southern governor or Governor Wike. Appreciate his circumstances, appreciate what he’s talking about. Listen to him, put yourself in his own shoes,” he said.

“You begin to understand that he is not a crying wolf. He is demanding justice, he is demanding equity. And that is right for him to do.

“If things from the beginning were done in the right way, I wouldn’t say there won’t be any disagreement but it won’t have been this way.

“I don’t think Wike is impossible to deal with. He has shown that he is a team player when the team is a reasonable team.”