Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will never give him its presidential ticket in 2027 due to his habit of betraying others.
Describing Atiku as a chronic betrayer in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, Olayinka said the 2023 PDP presidential candidate should no longer be considered for the party’s ticket, as the PDP presidential ticket will no longer be available to be wasted by serial betrayers of the party, who are now reaping the consequences of their past betrayals.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and those pushing him for their own interests should allow the PDP to breathe,” he said.
Atiku’s media aide, Phrank Shaibu, in response to Wike’s remarks on Wednesday during a live media session in Abuja that Atiku would never secure the PDP’s 2027 presidential ticket as he has been rejected by Nigerians, had said that Atiku’s previous victories, including his defeat of Wike to win the 2023 PDP presidential ticket, as well as his triumph over former Governor Aminu Tambuwal in the 2019 primaries, was too much for the FCT Minister to bear.
While reacting to Shaibu’s comments, Olayinka, a former aide to ex-Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, said the claims from Atiku’s camp were childish and laughable.
“Atiku seems to be taking pride in defeating Wike and Tambuwal—both of whom were barely in their twenties when he first ran for president in 1993, finishing third in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries,’ he said.
READ ALSO: We’ll no longer dignify Atiku with response, we’re done with him —Presidency
“This further proves that Atiku needs to retire and stop acting like an aging rooster unaware that it’s no longer the crowing king of the yard.
“If Atiku hadn’t been so driven by unchecked ambition, he could have easily claimed the presidency after his tenure as Vice President.
“But his desperation led him to leave the PDP and contest as the Action Congress candidate in 2007, while still serving as Vice President under the PDP’s platform.
“Atiku’s repeated pattern of abandoning the party and returning when it suits him shows that he is unfit to lead.
“The ticket of the PDP will not be available to someone like him, who contests, loses, and then runs off to Dubai, only to return when another election is approaching.”
Olayinka noted that Atiku’s conscience would continue to weigh on him, especially regarding his actions during the 2023 election in Lagos, adding that even Atiku’s 2018 apology to PDP members would not erase the stain of betrayal.
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