Atiku in fresh troubles as PDP governors divided over him.

Although, after the exit of Turaki of Adamawa and former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from APC last week he has not formally joined the PDP but governors under the PDP are already divided on his choice as their Presidential aspirant for 2019.
Some of the governors and party leaders prefer National Caretaker Committee Chairman Ahmed Makarfi, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and one-time Governor of Kano State Ibrahim Shekarau.
There were indications that some of the governors might oppose former President Goodluck Jonathan’s plan to back Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.
They claim not to have been consulted by Jonathan.
Atiku has continued his consultations prior to his return and registration as a PDP member in Jada 1 Ward, Adamawa State.

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The Adamawa chapter of the APC yesterday confirmed the receipt of Atiku’s resignation letter.
State Secretary of APC Alhaji Saidu Nera confirmed this in Yola.
Nera said he was yet to get the letter but the party officials of Jada 1 Ward in Jada Local Government Area where Atiku registered had told him that they had received the letter.
Atiku spent the weekend holding talks with some of PDP’s Northeast Zonal executives; Adamawa PDP executives and party leaders from Jada Local Government, Jada 1 Ward and zonal executives.
PDP State Secretary Abdulllahi Prambe described the meetings as fruitful.
“Our meeting with him has been fruitful and from his body language, he will soon return to PDP,” Prambe said.
“With Atiku, the party will carry more weight and more people will also troop in,” he said.
It was learnt that Atiku might meet Governors Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe) and Ishaku Darius (Taraba) in Abuja this week on his plans to return to the PDP and seek their cooperation.
Although he was silent on when he would rejoin the PDP, there were speculations that he might re-register in Jada 1 Ward of PDP on December 6.
It was learnt that some of the PDP governors might have opted to work for Makarfi when he leaves office at the National Convention on December 9.
The governors have reportedly said they were “not keen to work for Atiku”.
A governor who spoke in confidence said: “Not all the PDP governors have bought into the Atiku agenda, we are not united on him. If we have our way, some of us will go for Makarfi who has shown uncommon leadership in reuniting PDP. And those of us in this group are encouraging him to join the presidential race.
“Some of our leaders also prefer Lamido or Shekarau. If we have any issue with Makarfi, it is about rumours on his health and we have conducted our research, the ex-governor is as fit as a fiddle. It is all propaganda.

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“As I am talking to you, we have not been fully consulted by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Atiku’s candidature.
“At the end of the day, we will follow the rule of law, the party’s constitution and go to the field to elect a presidential candidate. What if our members decide not to grant Atiku a waiver to contest the presidential primaries? ”He is a new member, he can as well queue like others.
“Some of our leaders speak about Atiku as a political asset in the North but he was a distant third in the APC presidential primaries. We won’t be blind on our choice this time around. I think programmes and not personality should matter to PDP.”
A former member of the National Working Committee (NWC) said: “Some of the governors have been working behind the scene with Jonathan on the Atiku project. We see him as a game changer and that is why we are desperate to woo him.
A fresh twist to Atiku’s exit from APC emerged yesterday following the revelation that he left the ruling party since October 18.
But Accord Party chieftain Dr. Doyin Okupe advised opposition parties to form a coalition if they hope to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC in the 2019 general elections.

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Okupe, a former presidential spokesman, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as presently constituted, is weak to upstage APC from power but should team up with other parties to realise the dream.
Okupe described Accord as a veritable third force that is blowing like a whirlwind across the Southwest Nigeria and the country at large, expressing confidence that the party would win the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State.
He spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, at the weekend during the election and inauguration of the party’s State executive and the official adoption of Banjo Ojo as the governorship candidate for the 2018 election.
At the event, 500 members of the PDP, APC and Labour Party defected to the party and were received by the State chairman of the party, Chief Abiola Odeoba and National Chairman, Mr. Lawan Nalado.
Okupe said: “It took a coalition in 1998 to be able to send away military. The coalition crystallized into PDP, won election and held it for 16 years.
“It took a coalition of forces again in 2015 to be able to wrest power from the PDP and that is what Nigerians should do in 2019.”

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