When Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers state, attended his mother's funeral over the weekend in Delta state, Nduka Obaigbena, the founder of THISDAY and Arise TV, found time to make fun of him.

When Obaigbena hosted some visitors who came to the funeral of his mother, Margaret Obaigbena, on Saturday in Owa-Oyibu, Delta state, Obaigbena made fun of Wike.

The THISDAY chairman said, "Wike lule," while praising Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto, whom he referred to as the nation's "future president."

In May, Atiku Abubakar defeated Wike in the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) presidential primary.

“Lule” is a Yoruba word that means “fell flat”.

In an outburst before the party's primary, Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), gave resonance to the word "plot" when he insinuated that there was a plot against him.

Tinubu said when President Muhammadu Buhari first tried to be president, "o lule" (he fell flat) and he wanted to give up after the third attempt, but he (Tinubu) went to tell him to run again.

The former Lagos governor then said it was his turn to be president. After all, what had he done for Buhari?

At the party on Saturday, Shina Peters, the Afrojuju singer, gave the microphone to Obaigbena midway into his performance.

“Chairman of PDP governors forum, Tambuwal! Presidential candidate, Tambuwal! Wike 'lule’, Tambuwal! Wike 'lule’, Tambuwal! Wike 'lule’, Tambuwal! "Future president, Tambuwal!” Obaigbena joked.

There is no love lost between Obaigbena and Wike as both of them are currently in court over allegations of libel.

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has been in a crisis since it held its presidential primary election in May.

Atiku clinched the party’s ticket after the dramatic withdrawal of Tambuwal from the race. Tambuwal had asked his supporters to support the former vice-president.

The crisis in the party escalated after Atiku picked Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate.

Party stakeholders had expressed concerns that Atiku ignored Wike, who was said to have been preferred by a majority of the national working committee (NWC) members as the candidate for the position.

Despite meetings that have been held, Atiku and Wike are yet to broker a truce.