The Nigerian major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, which has been in a deep crisis for months on Friday yet got rocked by new waves of crisis as Governor Nyesom Wike spilt controversial comments that would have been termed confidential.
Going head-on against the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the party Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, the governor of Rivers State laid out several allegations.
The party’s crisis had begun in May 2022, when Atiku emerged as the winner of the party presidential primary with 371 votes, followed by Wike with 237 votes.
Wike, who had hoped to be selected to be Atiku’s running mate eventually went berserk when the presidential candidate dodged him and opted for Delta State Governor, Okowa. Since then the aggrieved Rivers governor and his supporters have asked for the resignation of the party’s Chairman, Ayu, as a condition to work in accord with the party without stating clear reasons.
The governor disclosed that Atiku had during a meeting they held in London promised to work out within a week modalities for Ayu’s resignation as the national chairman of the party, but he never did.
Some of the major forces on Wike’s formidable side include governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, Samuel Ortom of Benue and other party stalwarts like former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana, former PDP BoT chairman Olabode George, ex-governors Donald Duke of Cross Rivers, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo and Jonah Jang of Plateau states, respectively, as well as former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.
Wike’s team earlier in the week have withdrawn from Atiku’s campaign council as their demand has not been met.
As the crisis deepens, speaking with newsmen on a live broadcast from Port Harcourt on Friday, Wike said Ayu cannot continue to preside over the affairs of the PDP given that he is from the North like the presidential candidate.
Principally alleging that Ayu is corrupt and against him, he said, “He (Ayu) was calling aspirants to withdraw for Atiku. I was there; Saraki and others were there. He manipulated the delegates. There was nothing Ayu did not do to ensure that Wike did not emerge.”
Read also: Wike blasts, says Ayu manipulated PDP presidential in favour of Atiku
Labelling the former Senate President, Iyorchia Ayu as “very corrupt”, he said;
“Some of the governors can tell you. Will he deny the fact that he collected N1bn from Lagos? Let him deny it; I will tell him who gave him the money not from the Lagos State Government. The money was given to him in Lagos.
“He met one of the presidential candidates (aspirants) and told him that he’s not sure these governors may want to sponsor the party.
“That money did not enter into the account of the PDP, but we are not attacking Ayu on that basis.”
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