Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike,  has met with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday evening.

Atiku had emerged the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections, in a primary election held in Abuja, last Saturday. 

The former Vice-President had defeated his closest rival, Wike , with 371 votes to 237.

DIPLOMATIC DIARY learnt that Wike reciprocated Atiku’s visit which the former Vice-President paid on Monday.

Unlike Monday’s meeting where a dissatisfied Wike met the camera shutters with an arching frown on his face, Wednesday’s meeting ended on a cordial note as the governor and the ex-VP beamed with smiles in a photo pose after the closed-door session whose details were yet unknown as of press time.

Atiku shared photos of the meeting on his verified social media pages. He said, “It was a pleasure to receive His Excellency Nyesom Wike in the company of notable leaders and officials of our great party, the PDP, at my residence today. I am proud of the promises that this spirit of camaraderie holds for our party as a united front that guarantees victory in the next election to rescue the country.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Atiku solicited the support of his rivals in the opposition party to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in next year’s election.

Atiku, after he received the party’s Certificate of Return at the PDP National Secretariat at the Wadata Plaza in Abuja, said his main opponent is the APC and not his co-aspirants in the presidential primary.

He urged his contenders to join forces with him to dislodge the APC government led by  President, Muhammadu Buhari  in 2023.

Wike’s visit happened amidst search by Atiku and the opposition party for an acceptable southern running mate.

The PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Walid Jibrin, had on Monday said, “The BoT will assist the party and surely the Waziri Adamawa (Atiku) himself to come out with a very acceptable Vice President from southern Nigeria.”