Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s media team has tackled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for saying that the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), stood no chance of securing the ticket for the 2027 election.
Atiku’s Special Assistant on Media, Abdul Rasheeth, pointed out that Wike had attempted to stop Atiku in 2019 and contested against him in 2023, only to lose.
“Wike had attempted to stop Atiku in 2019 and contested against him in 2023, only to lose. Now, Wike is claiming he will stop Atiku again in 2027. “The 40-year whisky is a joker,” he said.
Wike fired the first salvo when he said that Atiku would not be able to secure the PDP ticket in 2027.
The current Minister for the Federal Capital Territory told a panel of interviewers in a live media parley in his office in Abuja on Wednesday, that Atiku was old blood who had been seeking the ticket since 2003 and the party needed fresh leadership.
Wike said, “Did he not present it before Nigerians? Did Nigerians choose him? He is lobbying for another chance, but the chance will not be there. In which party? How can we rely on one man for so many years?
“Look at America. I’m sure you all did not support Trump, saying he is this, he is a racist, he is that. We cried, but Americans thought differently, made a decision for the good of their own country.
“You presented your blueprint in 2023; Nigerians heard you clearly and said thank you, but it will not work. We will not support you. Criticism does not mean the opposition is working.
“Trump was not in government, yet he got to work and told the Republicans, ‘Listen, what do we do? We have to be serious.’ You can’t sideline people and say you will fight someone just because you feel he is too influential.”
According to Wike, Atiku had severally presented his blueprint to Nigerians and he had been serially rejected.
Atiku who was the PDP Presidential Candidate in 2023 had recently said if he had won the election, he would have done things differently from President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians would not have been faced with the current level of hardship.
