…insists if Ayu must go not at Rivers gov’s instance
As the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to fester, with the various camps digging further into their trenches, Northern leaders have expressed displeasure over the manner the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is going about the issue, accusing him of ‘playing god’ and insisting that if the National Chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, is to step down from his position, it would not be at the instance of Wike.
Ayu was elected national chairman in October last year, for four-year tenure. But the party members are demanding his resignation following the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is from the same region with him, as PDP Presidential Candidate for next year’s election. Wike, who came second in the PDP Presidential primary, is insisting that Ayu should step down as national chairman for a Southerner. Saturday Telegraph, however, gathered that the North is opposed to Ayu leaving office before the general elections. According to a source; “even if he’s going to leave, not at the instance of Wike. Wike is playing god.
Is he the only PDP governor? “He is the one that brought (Ali Modu) Sheriff, together with (Ayodele) Fayose, and PDP went through all manner of crisis because of that. “Wike also brought his brother, Uche Secondus, and what happened lat-er? He disagreed with him and insisted that Secondus should leave even when he had only about three months to the end of his tenure. “We are tired of Wike’s antics; enough is enough.
He should not be the one deciding for PDP all the time.” The source further condemned the statement attributed to Ayu during his interview with BBC Hausa Service, and stated that referring to Governor Wike and others as “children” was unbecoming of a leader. “Every party leader condemned his choice of word; it is irresponsible for the party chairman to use such word. Nobody will support that,” he said. The source explained that forcing Ayu to step down now will create constitutional crisis in the party. He argued that apart from Ayu, two other National Working Committee members (NWC) will also resign to pave the way for a Southern National Chairman.
“If the National Chairman is forced to leave, the Deputy National Chairman (North) will also resign, before the Deputy National Chairman (South) could takeover. And you can’t have National Chairman from the South and National Secretary also from the South. So he also must resign. “And how do you fill the vacancies? It is not by appointment. There will be a mid-term convention to elect these officers. And we can’t have mid-term convention now when we should be campaigning for our candidates for the 2023 general elections,” the source explained.
