The protracted leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is far from being over if the latest revelations by our correspondents are considered.
It is no longer news that Nyesom Wike, the Governor of Rivers State`s camp has refused to be placated with the resignation of the Board of Trustees chairman, Sen Walid Jibril., insisting that the national chairman, ‘Iyorchia Ayu must go’.
Though about 5, out of the 13 PDP governors have been on the side of the embattled national chairman, a source close to the presidential candidate, Mr. Atiku Abubakar told Truthlive.net that apart from Governors Okowa, Aminu Tambuwal, Fintiri, Diri, and Obaseki of Delta, Sokoto, Adamawa, and Edo states, the Waziri Adamawa cannot confidently boast of having the full support of the whole governors.
He said: As we speak, we can only boast of about 4 or 5 governors who are on the side of the presidential candidate and literally on the side of the chairman, I can confidently mention the governors of Edo, Adamawa, Delta, Bayelsa, Sokoto and to some extent Bauchi, but again how many of them were at the caucus meeting or NEC?”
“The situation is not too pleasant and if we go into the election in such a fragmented body, we will be beating left-right, and center”. At this point some of us who are close to the Waziri Adamawa, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar are beginning to think if the national chairman wants the party to win the coming election because if he truly does, honouring his promise and stepping aside wouldn’t be a difficult sacrifice for him to make for the interest of the party”.
Another source argued that even the governors who are said to be on the side of the presidential candidate are not totally supporting the national chairman, as they are seeing to be indifferent about his remaining in office during the campaign which could generate bad blood and tense atmosphere which the party does not need at this point, according to the source.
On the other side, more governors are said to have pitched tenth with camp Wike as they saw the refusal of Ayu to leave as a poser of what could happen if Atiku Abubakar wins the presidential election.
A close ally of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike revealed that governor Darius Isiaku of Taraba State, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, and Bauchi State`s Bala Muhammed have been speaking with Gov Wike who they see as fighting a just cause. Samuel Ortom, Ikpeazu Okezie, Seyi Makinde, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi governors of Benue, Abia, Oyo, and Enugu states respectively have not hidden their support for Gov Wike and the cause of justice he is fighting.
“We have the governors of Bauchi, Taraba and Akwa Ibom now coming to terms with what we are agitating for and they have started talking to us. The issue is a simple one, leave and let`s live. We cannot have Ayu a northerner as national chairman and presidential candidate from the north too.
“If we are talking about the APC lying to Nigerians and asking Nigerians to vote them out, what moral justification do we have as leaders of the party to ask Nigerians to vote for us and trust us, when we cannot trust ourselves as a party when we lie and deceive ourselves within the PDP?”
“What we want is equity, fairness, and justice. We cannot promise Nigerians these three life essentials when we do not have them as a party”
“The PDP today is battling with the” moral burden of presenting a northern candidate to replace a northern candidate in 2023 as if that is not enough, we are still not able to respect a simple principle of diversity and equality as a party and we say we want to rescue Nigeria from the APC, seriously? Are we really seriously thinking that Nigerians are fools?”.
“If Ayu has shown this level of dishonesty, insensibility, and irresponsibility at this stage, what happens if Atiku wins the presidential election? We have made it clear, that if Ayu remains the party chairman during campaigns we won’t participate and Atiku should hold himself and Ayu responsible if they lose”.
The Wike group has vowed to ensure that the PDP wins in their respective states, and support other states to win also, but they will not contribute or support the campaign structure for the presidential election as long as the embattled Sen Iyiorcha Ayu remains on that seat as the National Chairman of the PDP.