Despite the resignation of Senator Walid Jibrin, Board of Trustees Chairman in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is insisting that the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu must go.
Despite Jibrin’s resignation earlier on Thursday, September 8, 2022, Wike’s insistence is the poison to stop the healing of the lingering crisis in the party.
Straightnews understands that the party chieftain decided to step down to satisfy party members, who have condemned the lopsidedness in the party’s leadership positions.
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Wike and his loyalists believe the top leadership positions in the party favour the North.
They argued that the party’s presidential candidate, the national chairman, the BoT chairman, and the Governors Forum chairman cannot all come from one region.
To address this, Wike demanded the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu as a condition for the resolution of the crisis rocking the party.
Speaking during the commissioning of the Ahoada Campus of the Rivers State University of Science, Wike insisted that Ayu must step down.
The governor said following the party’s presidential primary in May, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the party’s Presidential Candidate visited him in his Abuja residence and told him that Ayu must resign.
Wike said if Atiku denies wanting Ayu out as PDP National Chairman, he would go ahead to say many things.
He said, “When we finished our convention on Saturday the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came to see me in my house in Abuja on Monday around 10.30 a.m.
“He told me I want us to work together and then, he said, ‘Look, Ayu must go.’ I said ‘Why?’ He said that when a candidate comes from the North, the Chairman will come from the South. And I am saying, implement what you told me. What offence have I committed? It has nothing to do with Wike; it has to do with integrity. I challenge the presidential candidate to deny this. If he denies this, I will go further to say so many things to Nigerians because enough is enough.”
Wike has been at loggerheads with the leadership of the PDP since he lost the party’s primary to Atiku.
Recall that Wike threatened that he would help the party to lose the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Okezuo Abia Flyover in Osieome, Aba, Abia State, on Monday, September 5, 2022, the governor boasted that he had the capacity to bring down his enemies.
Meanwhile, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has passed vote of confidence on Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairman.
At the NEC meeting held at Wadata House, Abuja, Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal was appointed as Director-General of PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
Eventually, Senator Adolphus Wabara, the former Senate President was appointed as Board of Trustees Chairman in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
