PDP must apologise over Atiku’s remark – Wike

Amidst crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike has called on the party to apologise to Nigerians following a divisive and controversial remarks of its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.

The presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar had said: “I know the whole of this country. I have built bridges across this country. I think what the average northerner needs is somebody who is from the north, who also understands the other parts of Nigeria, and who has been able to build bridges across the rest of the country.

“This is what the northerner needs. He (the northerner) doesn’t need a Yoruba candidate or an Igbo candidate. This is what the northerner needs. I stand before you as a pan-Nigerian of northern origin”.

Speaking in Port Harcourt on Monday shortly after arriving from Spain, Wike said while he doubted the possibility of Atiku making such a statement at a critical time of the nation’s history, such disposition of the presidential candidate would justify his fight for equity, justice and fairness in the PDP.

He insisted that the party must urgently address the issue and appeal to Nigerians otherwise people would begin to see the party as one that lacked justice and equity.