Phrank Shaibu: Atiku, a pan-Nigerian candidate, not a tribal jingoist

Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant, Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, has described his principal as pan-Nigerian.

He said this on Wednesday while featuring on Trust TV’s political programme, Daily Politics.

• PDP Crisis: I can’t force Ayu to resign, Atiku replies Wike’s camp
• PDP Crisis worsens as Wike’s Loyalists pull out of Atiku’s campaign

Shaibu was reacting to the action of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his team that backed out of the campaign Council of Atiku.

The team announced their withdrawal from the campaign council after a meeting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

They insisted that the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, must resign for them to rescind their decision.

Reacting to this development, Shaibu said: “Atiku s a pan-Nigerian candidate. He is not a tribal jingoist. He is not an ethnic jingoist. He is not a religious bigot and he’s a believer.

“I remember when he was hiring me in 2018, he said ‘Phrank , you know what I represent, in your conduct, in your actions, in your statements, make sure that it represents what I represent’. And that is particularly pan-Nigerianism and not to tend towards one section of the country.

“And that is why I believe very strongly, that Nigerians know that this particular crisis is not just about Atiku coming out to say ‘look, Ayu, please get off’. No. it is about the rule of law. It is about concession. It is about understanding. It is about maturity in every sense of it. It’s about looking at the big picture; looking at Nigeria and looking at the sufferings of the masses, and looking at even the PDP.

“Talking about choices, the choice is not that of Atiku to make. Atiku does not even have the powers to remove… It is not within his powers to say he wants to remove the national chairman of a party. That will be a gross violation of the rules and ethics of the political party.

“We are not a pressure Group. We’re a political party. Whatever he wants to do will only be in an advisory capacity. He can only say ‘Come gentlemen, let’s do this. I think we should do this’ and all that.”