By Chuks Moses.
The hydra-headed crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is getting more bothersome, more so as ‘bad boy’ of the party continues to be verbally ballistic to the chagrin of his bedfellows.
There are also indications that the realm of the dark world is being invited in, after reports that ram heads were seen at some junctions in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Accusing fingers are being pointed in the direction of a prominent northern citizen known for sorcery, but residents say it could have been done by anybody, especially since the tussle for power is involved.
A cursory look at Gov. Nyesom Wike, who has been in the forefront of those calling for the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu since Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged as the presidential flagbearer, is necessary, even after his much advertised media chat last week.
He has raised a growing number of stakeholders, including a sizable number of governors who continue to insist the chairman must resign so that peace and equity to reign once again.
And except there’s more to it than meets the public eye between Atiku and Ayu, the crisis might deny the party any form of cohesion in the 2023 election.
One analyst has suggested that the issue of an alleged unremitting campaign fund was known to a very prominent candidate of the party, who opted to be silent about it so he could use it as a weapon to whip him into line in the future.
“That money is being used to renovate private structures in Abuja and a northcentral state as we speak and our man knows that very well. The way Wike and his group are going, they may bring down the house on everyone with the sheer amount of information at their disposal. They are political suicide bombers,” the source said.
“But you will agree that many persons who have secret dealings with him will now be afraid because of the choleric tendencies of his buccal cavity,” he adds.
Wike also disclosed some of the underground politics that played out during and shortly after the party’s presidential convention.
Many are surprised that he was somewhat light on his former friend and serial traitor, who is also a governor, like him.
“It is a wonder he is not picking or kicking hard on that character who has a penchant for back-stabbing. I suspect he is waiting for an auspicious time. He must know about that guy’s fifth-columnist role and romance with Villa, but he is silent, and that is strange,” the PDP insider said.
“The man is bitter and it appears what happened to him is turning out beautifully for the southern region, as he is riding on it to achieve some kind of justice for the shortchanged region. How it pans out in the end is left to be seen. Karma, however, is playing out against all those who betrayed Goodluck Jonathan, as Wike is helping to serve them a taste of their own hot nepotistic pudding,” he adds
Anyway, Wike disclosed that at a point after losing the party’s presidential ticket, some notable stakeholders impressed on him to go for the senatorial ticket offer from the All Progressives Congress(APC) leader which he rejected earlier.
But “I said no, I won’t do that. I have already made a commitment that this senate should be zoned to this area, because they have never had it before,”
He added that not withstanding the crisis at the national level, which he claimed was fomented by Atiku, the Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Ayu, he refused to make decisions that would affect the overall interest and unity of the party.
But insisted that Ayu must step down and give room for equity and fairness in the party.
Taken up by journalists on the possibility of being seen a bad loser, the governor said, “I never collected senatorial form; other candidates did and that is how you know those who are serious and those who are unserious. I didn’t contest for the presidential ticket because I wanted to settle for the position of vice president.
“Imagine a national chairman, Ayu, went ahead to describe Tambuwal as hero of the convention. You heard what Jang said, he described Ayu as a referee who helped one of the sides to score a goal and then blew a whistle that a goal had been scored.”
He bitterly accused Ayu standing vehemently against his emergence as the presidential candidate of the party, pointing out that “There’s nothing Ayu did not do for me not to emerge as the PDP candidate. Ayu did everything to manipulate the system to ensure that all the numbers did not add up,”
He further accused the chairman of personally calling most of the presidential aspirants, like Govs Bala Mohammed, Tambuwal and former senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to step down for Atiku. And he eventually picked the ticket.
Ayu, he added also threatened to resign his position if he(Wike)emerged the presidential candidate. He also restated that he ensured the process was manipulated the for the victory of Atiku.
The Rivers State Governor equally accused Ayu of eying the position of Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) should the 2023 election.
That its perhaps why he’s clinging to the national chairmanship position and his insistence not to resign from office until Atiku wins the election.
The visibly unfazed Gov Wike added that, “If Nigerians hear a lot of things going on now in the party that wants to take over the reign of power, they will shake their heads. You see, when we talked about Ayu, it seems people don’t know what is involved. Ayu wants to be in power, so that he will be there and if we (PDP) win (presidential election), he wants the Secretary to the Government of the Federation position. You know these positions have been shared and then they are talking to ‘small boys’ like us to play along like we don’t know what is going on.
“I can tell you that because most of you don’t know what is going in the party. Somebody has been given the senate president position. And do you think I will sit here on national television to tell you things I don’t know? It is just because of confidentiality and certain things that we cannot say them here.”
He said though no one was above the party, those who left the party at the height of its crisis in 2014/2015 cannot suspend him.
On the possibility of his suspension for anti-party activities, Wike derisively laughed, “Who will suspend me? The party? Which party? PDP? No problem. Look at the wahala you (PDP) are already carrying. They (PDP) can go ahead.
“I am not saying I am bigger than the party, but those who ran away from the party cannot suspend me from the party. I beg them (PDP) today and they shouldn’t waste time to say the Governor of Rivers State, you are hereby suspended from the party. Then, anything you see, you take! They (PDP members) know what I can do.
“What I am saying is that if we misuse this opportunity Nigerians are giving us, we will pay dearly for it. For me, everything must be done to make sure the right thing is done for us to get the support of Nigerians. But if we continue this way, we are going for a shocker, and that I can tell you.”
He admitted the crisis was far more than what was being reported and that for the sake of peace, he won’t reveal more critical information to the public. He said, “I believed justice, fairness and equity should be allowed for our party to progress. That is when our party can stand as a party that wants to take over the reign of affairs of this country.
“Nigerians should even thank us that we are pushing our party to let the world not think that some of the people (PDP members) behaving around are the people to lead them, but to know that there are people who still believe in equity, justice and fairness in the PDP.”
He maintained his position not to defect to any other party, but to stay back and ensure that justice was done and the chairmanship position moved to the South.
“If I want power or want to be in power, I would have gone ahead to take the senatorial ticket. But I said no. That is a man who believes in equity, fairness and justice. So, the analysis does not rhyme at all.”
He alleged that Ayu took money from a presidential candidate in Lagos and challenged him to deny the claims, because he has evidence.
Apparently pained over his inability to clinch his party’s ticket, Wike said the money Ayu collected was not remitted into PDP‘s account, noting: “Will he deny the fact that he did not collect N1billion from Lagos? Yes, let him deny it, I will tell him who gave him the money. Not Lagos State Government, but someone in Lagos. The money was given to him in Lagos. He met one of the presidential aspirants and told him he was not sure state governors would want to sponsor the party.
“Let Ayu say no, I will even call some of the businessmen and how the money was arranged in Lagos. That money did not enter the account of PDP. But we are not attacking Ayu on that basis.”
On the call for Ayu to resign, Gov Wike said the issue is clearly provided for in the party’s constitution that there shall be zoning of offices and elective offices.
“It is made clear and what should be and what should be done. People in the system now manipulate things and would not let the public know the truth.”
Wike recalled how Atiku and Saraki worked against former President Goodluck Jonathan, leading to his eventual loss of the 2015 presidential election, saying Jonathan’s pleas for them to rescind their decision to leave the party in 2014 fell on deaf ears, and that Tambuwal was among those that humiliated Jonathan after the 2014 convention by insisting that it was the turn of the North.
“People should not forget history. In 2013 and 2014, there was an issue of the presidential candidate. When Jonathan emerged, Atiku and others worked out of the convention. Tambuwal and former senate president Saraki, all worked out.
“Jonathan did everything to talk to them, but they rebuffed him as a sitting President. He travelled to London to see Atiku, but he rebuffed him. Former Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, admitted that they all agreed to work against Jonathan.
“We are not like them, when in 2014 they walked out from Eagles Square and joined APC, did they remain to fight inside the party? They ran away, but we will remain. Now there is a fight in the party, we will not run; we will fight it in this party. Those who run away from fight are weak people. But we will not.
“So, everybody should know, this is the state where we are, so nobody should tell you stories.”
Spilling more beans, Gov Wike revealed that some ex-military Generals and other PDP members met on the night of the party’s presidential primary and special convention to prevent his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate, adding that part of the meetings was held in homes of ex-Generals on the night of the convention in a bid to prevent his emergency, which caused the delay in the commencement of the convention on the day of PDP primary.
He lambasted Ayu for his role in the convention, saying, “a whole national chairman told some aspirants that if Wike wins, that he was going to resign. As chairman of the convention, he allowed Tambuwal to speak a second time. Look, integrity matters. And after everything, he went and hugged Tambuwal, that he was the hero of the convention.
“Meetings upon meetings were going. Pressures were being mounted on people to step down. Even on the night of the convention, meetings were going on. That is why we started our convention late. Some of the retired Generals were involved. Some of the meetings were held in their houses. There is nothing they didn’t do for me to step down.
“Those who know me know that I would have stopped the convention, even if heaven falls. But I said for peace to reign, let the convention go on. Now a candidate has emerged, and we need to win elections as a party. That is the ultimate, winning election.
“But the right things must be done. It was agreed and it has been the practice of the party that if the candidate comes from the North, the national chairman should come from the South. The candidate (Atiku) knows all these. He even said it to me when he came to my house in Abuja.
“I’m not saying PDP cannot do without me; I’m saying they cannot do without me in Rivers. PDP cannot win Rivers without me.”
On the choice of Gov Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate, Wike explained that he was aware of the underground moves of the Delta Governor to become the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, but that he expected good sense to prevail in the party.
“That he (Atiku) was going to run with Okowa, that Okowa supported him, we were all aware; it is not that we didn’t see. 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.
“The chairman must either remain in South or go to the North. Luckily, the party set up a committee for zoning. In that committee, the Governor of Enugu State was the Chairman, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State was the Deputy Chairman. Some people will always think that they are too clever. They came up with zoning only the party offices, don’t zone the elective offices. How can you only zone party offices? You won’t zone elective offices?
“Some people believe they are too intelligent than others. Some of us say, look, that this at the end of the day will cause crisis for us.”