Signs emerged on Friday that the post-presidential primary election intraparty conflict in the nation’s leading opposition party; the PDP , is ‘far from over’.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state , who had for about four months now led a group of PDP bigwigs to demand for the resignation of former senator Iyorchia Ayu from his position as PDP National Chairman , has , once again, voiced their opinion on the issue .
It actually stands as Wike’s most revealing interview.
The governor while talking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday commented on the calls for Ayu’s resignation, submitting that the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had promised to come up with modalities on how to ease the PDP National Chairman out of office.
He said rather than keeping his word, Atiku had begun to cite the party’s constitution as a hindrance.
‘You are talking about the constitution now, but you have forgotten that the constitution says there should be zoning of elective and party offices. You did not remember that the constitution says so. Now, is there nothing called expediency? Is there nothing called doctrine of necessity? Now, look at where we have found ourselves.
The presidency ought to have been zoned to the South, you knew it. What you’ve done is to show how clever or smart you are. Now, there is a crisis, you’re now falling back to that constitution to say that there will be a constitutional crisis. You cannot eat your cake and have it. You can’t’ he stated.
The governor noted that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP could take decision on Ayu’s removal and later seek ratification at a convention after the elections.
Such a decision , he noted, will be for an expediency purpose in order to allow a southerner become the national chairman of the party.
‘All we want is, now that you have given presidency to the North, let us (South) take our own chairman, because when they’re meeting for decision -making, the presidential candidate sits there, national chairman sits there, the DG of campaign sits there, they take decision and come out and tell you to execute.
Now, I hear the Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman is gone. Why did they put pressure on the BOT chairman to resign and now you cannot put pressure on the national chairman to resign? When I was trying to run for governor, I had a lot of crises. But I had to let go of certain things for us to be able to win the election. The problem is that we have not won an election, we are arrogant’ he said.
Wike also said those who are advising Atiku to ignore Rivers state electors do not wish him well in the forthcoming presidential election.
‘Anybody advising Atiku is a wicked man, and I know those who are doing it. They don’t have electoral value in their own unit. Some of them are from Edo. Look at their calculation. Buhari didn’t win in Rivers State, but Buhari won Lagos and Kano. Does Atiku have Lagos now, does he have Kano? The only one he has always had is Rivers and you say you don’t want them’ he said.
Responding to a reporter’s question that he had failed to observe the way things were going because Governor Ifeanyi Okowa was the only South South governor that didn’t buy presidential nomination form or senate nomination form , Wike said he was aware that Atiku had planned to choose the Delta state governor as his running mate.
‘That he (Atiku) was going to run with Okowa. That Okowa supported him. We were all aware. It was not that we didn’t see. Take for instance in the United States of America, (Joe) Biden ran and the current vice president of America, Kamala Harris, gave Biden serious problem. When they wanted to pick the Vice Presidential candidate, Biden said this woman gave me a serious problem, I cannot pick this woman, but those in Biden’s camp, who meant well for him told him, ‘If you want to win this election, you must pick Kamala Harris.’ And look at the support (for Biden) today.
The problem with some of our leaders is that there are so many rent-seekers around them. They (rent-seekers) have not been in power for years. So they are all looking for how to bounce back. They are people who have no value to add’ he said.
Governor Nyesom Wike also revealed how the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu wanted him to leave PDP for APC and had promised him the party’s senate nomination.
Wike said he turned down the offer and insisted that he would remain in the main opposition party despite his grievances, adding that he never contested the presidential primary to become a vice-presidential candidate or get senate nomination.
‘I didn’t contest so I can become a vice presidential candidate, I am not like others who were not serious and bought senate nomination form and presidential nomination form and that’s why when Tinubu offered me senate slot, I didn’t go for it.
Apart from Tinubu, who is from the APC, other political parties are also talking to me including Labour Party because they all know my worth and how I can ensure that they win the 2023 poll. But I have not accepted any of the offers presented by those parties’ the governor added.
He also cited the role played by Atiku, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki ahead of the 2015 presidential election to justify their insistence on Ayu’s removal.
‘There shall be zoning of party and elective offices. It is clear. Not ambiguous. But people will always try to manipulate the system to suit them. They slant stories in such a way as to deceive the public. The founding fathers know the complexity of this country. They did it in such a way as not to have problems.
People should not forget history. In 2013 and 2014, there was an issue of the presidential candidate Jonathan emerged. Atiku and others walked out of the convention. Tambuwal and former Senate President all walked out.
Jonathan did everything to talk to them. But they rebuffed him as a sitting President. President travelled to London to see Atiku, but he rebuffed him. Former Governor Babangida Aliyu admitted that they all agreed to work against Jonathan’ he submitted.
Wike was in the United Kingdom last month where he spent more than five days.
The Rivers state governor had gotten recognized as the ‘man of the moment’ when it comes to Nigerian politics.
While in London, the three most prominent presidential candidates; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, PDP, and Mr Peter Obi, Labour Party held separate meetings with him.
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, Wike had sought for the PDP presidential nomination but lost this to Atiku in the presidential primary election held at the Eagle Square, Abuja in May.
He had later sought to get named as Vice Presidential candidate but Atiku eventually chose Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, a development that got him incensed. Defection rumours had since then swirled around him and the separate meetings the governor had held with LP and APC bigwigs accentuated the insinuations that he was planning to say ‘To your tents, O Israel‘ to the PDP- Team@orientactualmags.com
Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you
