PDP bigger than Wike, he should stop complaining – Lamido

Sule Lamido, the former governor of Jigawa state, has urged Rivers state Governor Nyesome Wike to take his defeat at the PDP presidential primaries with equanimity and stop complaining about it.

Wike lost the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria.

He said, few days ago, that Atiku had not reached out to him after the primaries, instead unleashed Lamido as an “attack dog” to make disparaging comment at him.

Lamido, in an interview with ThisDay newspaper published on Sunday, was unapologetic about his initial comment. Rather, he said the PDP had made its choice in Atiku and urged Wike to accept the outcome with maturity.

“Wike should show maturity as the matter is no longer between him and Atiku. Atiku is now the PDP candidate; whatever he is doing now is not a fight against Atiku but the party. The party made him”, he said.

Lamido also urged Wike to emulate Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who ran unsuccessfully for the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He similarly urged Wike to take a cue from former presidential aspirant Rotimi Amaechi, who suffered the same fate as Osinbajo, or former governor Peter Odili.

“A day to the PDP’s presidential convention, which Peter Odili of Rivers State was bound to win and was also bound to win the presidential election, he was stopped by the party which went on to nominate President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who did not even show interest,” Lamido said.

“He was promised a vice presidential ticket and yet he was not given. He took everything as the mature man he is.

“Look at the APC, Vice-President Osinbajo was humiliated; the senate president was also humiliated and even his countryman, Amaechi was given the same treatment; they took it as mature men and did not go about complaining as Wike is doing. This is called maturity.

“Do you know why? This is because the party is supreme. You cannot be bigger than your party. Party is organic. The convention has come and gone.

“When I say that the party is supreme, I mean that the PDP is an organic party. Many people defected to the APC in 2015, but the PDP remained strong because it is organic with root structures; it is not a one-man party.

“Let him learn from his former boss, Peter Odili. He will tell him a story that is so touching because I have never seen a person who was cheated on and who was so denied as Peter Odili.

“His (Wike’s) candidate for the governorship in Rivers state was imposed by him.

“Others wanted to be governor; have they reconciled? The guy he imposed won the governorship ticket at the congress. Who offended Wike? Did the convention offend Wike? How? There is no reconciliation. He is a party man and after the convention, he said the process was very credible. He said so.”