By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
Speaking on alleged plans to quit the PDP, Governor Wike said there was nothing of such nature.
His words: “I am still a full and committed member of the PDP. Of course, there are times you could have disagreements and what is out there to the public may not be a simple truth.
“I just want to state clearly that what I believe in and what I continue to stand for is equity, fairness and justice. It doesn’t matter whose interest is involved. What we are talking about today is not about presidential candidates. The primaries have gone. We are not talking about the vice presidential candidate. The candidate of the party has made his choice and which everybody has accepted. Therefore, that is not the issue. The issue as it is today is as provided in the constitution of our party. Section 7(3)(C) makes it clear that there shall be zoning of party offices and elective offices.
It is very clear and unambiguous. People who want to ascend to political power would always try to manipulate the system to suit them. And when they are doing this, they do not let the public know the actual facts. All they do is slant stories in such a way as to deceive the public.
“The founding fathers of our party never made a mistake. They knew the country called Nigeria and the complexities and therefore in doing things, they arranged it in such a way that we will not have problems in this our party.
In 2013/14, there was this issue of the presidential candidate of our party which of course we had President Goodluck Jonathan at that time emerging as the presidential candidate of our party and some members of our party played anti-party because they believed that the presidential candidate should come from the North.
“We have had our primaries and a presidential candidate has emerged but before a candidate emerged, there was the issue of where would the chairmanship go to because in our party, the chairman comes from either the South and the presidential candidate comes from the North or vice versa. This is to allow for inclusivity, for everybody to participate in the hierarchy of decision-making.
“As it is today, three persons are those who take major decisions of the party. One is the national chairman, another is the presidential candidate or president if you are in power, and then the Director General of the campaign. These are the three people who oversee the running of the party.
Atiku, Ayu working against decision of Southern Govs
“Now, we from the South had met before now and said the presidency must come from the South. APC, PDP, we met. They met and said the Conveners of this meeting would be the Governors of Ondo (Akeredolu), Ebonyi (Umahi) and Delta (Okowa). They became the chief conveners of the Southern Governors Forum. The first meeting was held in Asaba where it was agreed that President Muhammadu Buhari from the North has done eight years and therefore, the next president should come from the southern part of the country.
“The next meeting was held in Lagos where it was also amplified and stated clearly that this is what we must pursue as a people. Then the final meeting was held in Enugu. I don’t want to say certain statements made by some governors at that meeting but I remember one of the governors said, ‘look, how will I tell my children that I cannot be a president because I do not come from a particular section of the country?’
On why the former PDP chairman, Uche Secondus was ousted
Wike said: “We said, ‘Secondus as Chairman of the party, you are already running out your term and you cannot go back because it is the position of the South that the presidency has to come to the South and the presidency cannot come to the South if you are the chairman of the party because by our constitution, this is what is stated.’
” So, it was not as if it was a personal thing. In fact, it was surprising to me when I saw some of the governors who were even the conveners of the Southern Governors Forum, shifting, and saying the chairmanship should not be zoned. Did we say why? It must be zoned. Luckily, the party set up a committee for zoning and in that committee, the governor of Enugu State was the chairman. Gov. Ortom of Benue was the deputy. Cleverly, some people came up with the position that we should zone only the party offices and not elective offices. Some of us said we had to tackle the issue otherwise we would have a crisis later on.
“Now, the chairmanship was zoned to the North and that was why there was nobody from the South who contested that. Also, remember when we lost the election in 2015, the party sat down and formed a committee under Ekweremadu that committee said let us zone the presidency to the North and that was why at the 2018 convention, there was nobody from the South who contested for that. All the aspirants at that time came from the North and everybody will remember that I was the arrowhead for Tambuwal’s campaign. When we lost, Atiku came and we said the primary was over and that we would give him all the necessary support and there was no single PDP state that can come and say it contributed more than Rivers State and I challenge any state and also the candidate today, to tell PDP members if there was any state that contributed in whatever way to his election.
Wike, PDP allies are off to London again
Shortly after the briefing, Governor Wike and his confidants in the PDP were set for another London trip as the mind game among parties in the crisis rocking the party continues to rage.
Wike, after a lengthy media chat in Port Harcourt Friday is expected to jet out through the Port Harcourt International Airport at press time.
It is not clear yet who is on the entourage of the governor but a Rivers State Government House source the cast of companions will include “the usual allies in the PDP.”
N1b could be a donation to party —Party source
A source within the party leadership described Wike’s outburst as unfortunate.
The source said: “It is unfortunate that Governor Wike could descend so low to try to destroy a party he claims to love so much. No matter his grouse, he should have ventilated his anger within.
“What he has done is to cut his nose to spite his face. I hope for his sake, he has solid evidence to back the libellous allegations he made against our leaders, especially the national chairman. We also sincerely hope that he is not confusing donations made to the party as money given to Ayu.
“It is a known fact the world over that groups and individuals donate to political parties to promote a cause, there is no crime in people making donations to political parties.”
Subverting PDP constitution can derail it from winning ways —Jang
Meanwhile, former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang has warned that if the PDP subverts its constitution and fails to uphold its long-held tradition of inclusiveness, the party’s victory in 2023 would be derailed.
Jang also cautioned aspirants in Plateau State who contested and lost in the last PDP primaries in the state to let go of bitterness and stop blaming him for their losses.
Senator Jang spoke on the heels of Thursday’s publication on some media platforms which rebuked him for his support for the resignation of Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
The said publication was signed by a former Secretary to the State Government, Professor Shedrack Best, who served during the Jang administration and had contested the governorship seat of the State but lost to Barr. Caleb Mutfwang.
Reacting to the development in a statement, yesterday, Clinton Garuba, the Media Consultant to Senator Jang said there was a need to school those behind the said publication.
His words, “It is important to school the group on the dynamics of the politics of the PDP to which they are latter-day entrants. Senator Jang and the other founding fathers of the PDP built it on the principles of justice, equity and fairness and it is these principles that held the party to where it is today.
“Subverting the constitution of the party’s long-held tradition of inclusiveness is a sure way to derail the party from getting back to its winning ways. Senator Jang and the real stakeholders in the party are not surprised that such a publication is authored by Prof. Shedrack Best who is still aggrieved and sulking over his loss in the recently held primaries of the PDP in Plateau State.”
Nothing should cost PDP presidency, Ayu should resign, if…. – Anakwenze
In like manner, former Presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP, Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze, has appealed to Dr Ayu to save the PDP by stepping aside from office, if this is the only condition to prevent the PDP from failure in the 2023 general elections.
According to him, no sacrifice should be too great for Ayu to make in the overall interest of the party and the country; stressing that Nigeria is in need of an urgent rescue operation.
A statement issued, yesterday, by the Director General of Anakwenze Campaign Organisation, Comrade Eric Oluwole, urged the embattled PDP national chairman not to allow the house he helped to build to collapse before his own eyes a few months away from a resounding victory for the PDP in the February 25, 2023, Presidential Election.
Anakwenze threw his weight behind the aggrieved Governor Wike, who has insisted on Ayu’s resignation for a Southerner to take over the affairs of the party in order to ensure balance, saying the strong man of Rivers politics had valid points which could not be faulted.
He also stressed that the Ndigbo in the PDP should be aggrieved more than Wike and any other political bloc within the party, especially from the southern region, which he said had not been fair to the South-East.
He said: “At this point, Ndigbo within the PDP is supposed to be more aggrieved than Wike. What we were pleading for then within the party is zoning. That was why I contested along with my brothers including Sam Obuabunwa, Pius Anyim, Peter Obi and two others.
“We can’t blame Wike. He is right in what he is fighting for – balance and Justice for the South as for the North as well. It should be recalled that Obi, in frustration, left the party for the Labour Party because he believed that Ndigbo cannot be president on the platform of the PDP with the conditions prevailing now. But I choose to still remain at the party because of the interest I have in the party.
“Therefore, if Southern PDP Stakeholders are calling Ayu to resign as a solution to the crisis within the party, I think I have to appeal to him as a leader of our party, who has a good record, to do so, because of the overall interest and future of the party; and I know that he is going to be a hero if he does so.”
Calls For Ayu’s removal, re-zoning politically destructive —Atiku Associates
However, Supporters of Atiku Abubakar, under the aegis of Atiku People United (APU), have said calls for Ayu’s resignation are ill-timed and potentially destructive.
The group said this in a communique after a strategic meeting in Lagos, yesterday.
Members of the group said the way agitations against Ayu and calls for re-zoning of the position of national chairman are being pursued is unhealthy and had the potential of ruining the party’s chances in the forthcoming general elections.
The communique was signed by Chief Dapo Sarumi, former National Vice Chairman South-West, Hon. Rahman Owokoniran, South-West PDP Secretary among others.
Atiku Associates, an independent campaign movement, said: “While it is the right of all members to claim or maintain their moral or legal rights, mouthing statements and insinuations that could de-market and destroy our party and or candidate should be a no-go area and should be viewed with every seriousness because you can’t damage a foundation and still go ahead to build on it.
“We believe, and very strongly too, that the current do-or-die agitation in the Party is unfortunately due to the inability of our leadership to reflect on the benefit of hindsight.
“Leaders who have done great for the Party unconsciously are ready to kill the Party and kill their own ambition exactly as it affected us in 2015.
“Note that almost all those at the centre of the bitter bickering are election ticket holders or godfathers to party ticket holders. It is the same failure of deep reflection that the ruling Party in Lagos has used to keep PDP out of power for 23 years.
” This should be very instructive and all PDP leaders in the combat zone should take it to heart, not forgetting that the same destructive tendencies were used to push PDP out of power using ‘New PDP,’ an action that was later regretted to be a dinner with the devil. Why must history repeat itself?”
The communique further noted that “As core politicians, with many political pundits among us, we say without mincing words that the agitation may be right but the timing is completely wrong and politically unwise.
“And except we have decided to concede 2023 to APC, Ayu’s removal or resignation may shock the system, create fresh troubles that may be more destructive and take controls out of our hands.
“As a matter of fact, when has the office of National Chairman become so important in government and governance to any region to make us ready to throw away the Presidency?
“We have no doubts these must be why our presidential candidate, a master of the game himself has chosen the stand he has taken and not because of lack of respect for Governor Wike and his team.
“We, therefore, advise that the aggrieved leaders should be willing to make the sacrifice of sheathing their swords until after the election when the Party leader must have emerged and power of persuasion stronger and assuring. Note that Atiku is only a candidate and not yet Party leader officially.”
The Associates further said: “We sympathize and agree totally with our Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar that we cannot resort to impunity in removing the National Chairman and that this can only be achieved through personal conviction, which in our opinion is achievable through Political persuasions instead of equipping the opposition with campaign materials.”
The group also urged “the ‘Star Boy’ of the South-West, Governor Oluwaseyi Makinde, the only first-term governor in their team, to plead with his colleagues to sheath their swords in the interest of peace and progress, because we cannot afford to send wrong signals to our people and get them confused when the election comes.”
Oyo PDP renews call for Ayu’s resignation
However, the PDP in Oyo State has berated its counterparts in some South-West over press statements casting aspersions on Governor Seyi Makinde for calling for the removal of Ayu.
The ruling party in the state wondered what PDP in the other concerned South-West states was doing to checkmate the obvious excesses and misgovernance of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in their various states despite the ineptitude and undeniable failure on the part of the government in the concerned states.
The party also took a swipe at the opposition party, the APC in Oyo State over a statement credited to it alleging Governor Makinde of underperformance saying, the Oyo APC lacks every atom of political dignity and honour to shamelessly try to insult the collective sensibility of all sons and daughters of Oyo state that APC government either sent to their early graves subjected to torturous and horrendous experience between 2011 and 2019.
A statement by the PDP in Oyo state by its State Publicity Secretary, Akeem Olatunji cautioned the APC against making further mockery of itself in trying to play opposition party saying “the APC failed as a ruling party in Oyo state, now they’re even terrible as an opposition party, we expected robust engagements and constructive criticism, not noise making and seeking attention like a baby crying over spilt milk.”
The ruling party in the state described as shocking and appalling, various statements credited to other South-West state chapters of the party against Makinde’s insistence in line with other southern leaders of PDP on the resignation of the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
The party maintained that the demand for the resignation of Ayu was in tandem with everything the party seeks to translate into governance when its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar eventually wins the 2023 election stressing that Governors Makinde, Wike, and other national leaders on the course should be celebrated as heroes of a new national rebirth in the life of PDP.
Reno Omokri defends Ayu
Former President Jonathan’s aide and now a supporter of Atiku, Mr. Reno Omokri, has defended Ayu, saying that Wike’s utterances were fallacious. He said that he believed that Wike did not lie but that his memory must have failed him.
He said in a statement: “The Governor of Rivers state, and an esteemed member of our party, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike addressed the press on current issues within our party, and in the encounter, he made some utterances which are fallacious. I believe he did not lie. It may just be a case that, because of the task of running a very successful state, like Rivers, his memory may have failed him. So I have written the below to refresh his memory.
* The Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, never promised to resign if a Northern Presidential candidate is elected. Rather, he said openly and on video that he would resign IF the PDP asked him to. And since the PDP NEC passed a vote of confidence in him, why should he resign?
* The Peoples Democratic Party did not jettison zoning in favour of the North. Zoning was jettisoned in favour of the South. The last PDP President is from the South. By virtue of the party’s Constitution and tradition, the next President should come from the North.
* If Wike has evidence that the Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, is not a trustworthy character, he should provide such to the police and other law enforcement agencies.
* The Peoples’s Democratic Party Presidential primaries were not flawed. They were transparent and watched live on TV by Nigerians. A winner emerged. Many also did not win. Saraki, Tambuwal, Mohammed, Hayatudeen, Dele Momodu, Anyim, Fayose, Emmanuel, Momodu and others have not complained of any untoward happenings.
* If the Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, convened any illegal meetings in the house of retired generals, then proof of that should be tendered by the one making the allegations. By the way, who should the PDP Chairman meet? APC members, like someone we know?
* Waziri Atiku could not have promised Governor Wike that Senator Ayu would resign, because he has no power to make Senator Ayu (who was largely brought in by Governor Wike) resign.
* How can a man who almost single-handedly installed the last two PDP chairmen and many members of the NEC call the same party “arrogant”? If an engineer builds a house and calls it ugly, what is he invariably saying about himself?
* Wike says Waziri Atiku is surrounding himself with people without much political value, why is he resisting joining the PCC? We need Wike because he obviously has much political value.
* The Peoples Democratic Party has an NEC. The NEC can discipline any member according to the Constitution of the party.
* Every member of the party is a vital picture, but no member is the big picture.
* The PDP Constitution should determine the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
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