Loyalists of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have begun moves to expel the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The moves to expel Wike from the party gathered momentum last Saturday, days after he was nominated by President Bola Tinubu as a minister.

According to TheCable, a meeting hosted by Atiku, and attended by elders and stakeholders of the party who are his loyalists discussed ways to cut down Wike’s power extensively.

The meeting which lasted over two hours was held at the residence of a chieftain of the PDP and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, in Maitama, Abuja.

It was gathered that the meeting had in attendance former Delta State Governor and 2023 PDP presidential running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, the suspended party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, and other party leaders.

Most of the attendees rooted for Wike’s expulsion, but some feared that it may further divide the PDP and lead to rationalisation.

It was also learned that that the meeting was called to discuss how to make one of the ex-governors succeed Iyorchia Ayu as the PDP National Chairman.

Some of the former governors who attended the meeting were Babangida Aliyu (Niger State), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), and Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano).

Also at the meeting with Atiku were seven serving governors of the party. They were Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State (Atiku’s state), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau) and Lawal Dauda (Zamfara).