PDP Crisis: No End In Sight As Pro-Wike BoT Members Shun Board, NWC Meeting

• Sen Ayu, BoT Chairman In Shouting Match
• Protesters Storm PDP Secretariat, Demand Ayu’s Resignation

BY EDMOND ODOK – There seems to be no immediate end to the crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as leading figures in the Governor Nyesom Wike Presidential Campaign Council serving in the opposition party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) visibly shunned the Board’s meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

This is as the troubled BoT raised a committee to interface with the feuding Rivers State Governor and the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar over the selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as the vice presidential candidate and other burning issues within the party.

However, the Board meeting presided over by its chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, was nearly disrupted as some aggrieved Party members stormed the Wadata Plaza, PDP National Secretariat protesting over the 2023 governorship ticket crisis in Delta State and demanding the immediate resignation of the National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, for incompetence and maladministration.

Conspicuously missing at the meeting that took place inside the National Executive Council (NEC) Hall were Governor Nyesom Wike, Prof. Jerry Gana, and Senator Zainab Kure among other prominent names who are backers of the Rivers State Chief Executive.

With the no love lost between Nigeria’s former Vice President and Governor Wike featuring prominently at the closed-door meeting, a competent source hinted that the concerned BoT members agreed that warring parties should cease fire so as not to “further inflame passions”.

According to the insider; “After taking stock of what transpired during and after our national convention and the choice of running mate, we all agreed we have a problem. We cannot deny the fact that we need most, if not all of our party members on board but the question is at what cost?

“There were those who raised issues with the party’s current leadership structure which has been one of the bones of contention of Wike and his group. As things stand today, our national chairman, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and, of course, our presidential candidate are all northerners. We need to balance our sense of history with fairness in order not to give our opponents talking points during the campaigns.”

Also addressing issues around the demands placed on the table by the Wike’s group for discussions, our source stated that Atiku’s camp is not comfortable with having Ayu step down as the National Chairman because the Waziri Adamawa considers him a trusted and dependable ally to prosecute his 2023 presidential campaign.

“Let me put it plainly, Atiku believes it is a harmful strategy to remove the National Chairman with just months to the 2023 elections given that a trusted person must handle the Party’s affairs during the elections to avoid Jonathan’s era episode where the then PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mua’zu was accused of betrayal. More so, Ayu is aware that he must quit the position for fairness and equity sake.

“However, that would only happen after Atiku’s victory so that Ayu would not be left hanging in the event that things go awry at the polls. But in the event of PDP’s victory, a juicy ministerial appointment awaits him on vacating the seat as National Chairman asked to do so as soon as we win. These are the issues we are dealing with”, the insider volunteered.

Speaking to journalists on the meeting outcome, a BoT member, Senator Abdul Ningi, said; “We have set up in this committee of the BoT to be able to interface between warring factions, particularly the acrimony that is taking place between the presidential candidate and governor Wike and any other conflict that is taking place in the nation within our party formation.

“The committee is the committee of the whole. That means every other BoT member is a member of the committee. I cannot tell you the grievances and the time frame. We agreed to set up a committee involving all our (BoT) members to first go and meet the former Vice President who is our candidate for the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar. This decision to go to him first is in recognition of the order of protocol.

We will then go and meet with Governor Wile to hear from him, and beg him if we need to, although some members are not in agreement we need peace to return for us to move forward. These issues must be thrashed out before we can set up our campaign council.”

On the alleged agitations for Dr Ayu to resign as National Chairman ahead of the 2023 polls as a precondition for peace, Senator Ningi said; “We have not even discussed any issue of anybody stepping down. We discuss what we discussed, and what we discussed is what I told you.”

Ayu, BoT Chair In Shouting Match – Insider

Despite the picture painted by some of the BoT members, another insider hinted that at some points discussions were toxic and rancorous at the BoT and NWC’s meeting with the PDP chairman and BoT chairman involved in fierce exchanges as the latter expressed disappointment at being ignored in the party’s affairs by Dr Ayu.

Speaking in confidence, the source said: “At today’s meeting, the BoT chairman openly complained that since his assumption of office, this was the fourth BoT meeting he (Ayu) attended and that he (Ayu) does not see them (BoT) as part and parcel of the party and that he (Ayu) underrates them whereas, they (BoT) have constitutional roles to play.”

However, it was gathered that Ayu’s response was toxic as he pointedly told the BoT members that it was not important for him to sit with them for any meeting and it took the intervention of some members to calm down frayed nerves.

“In fact, Ayu told BoT members today (yesterday) that he won’t step down because there is a constitutional provision for him to spend four years as chairman of the party. Ayu argued that the idea of him resigning may affect the party’s chances and he may end up going to court if he is forced to step down.”

Protesters Storm PDP Secretariat Over Delta 2023 Guber, Ask Ayu To Resign

As the BoT and NWC meeting was ongoing, some Party members stormed the National Secretariat to complain about the 2023 governorship ticket crisis in Delta State, even as they called for Senator Iyorchia Ayu’s resignation as PDP National Chairman.

Acting on the platform of Concerned Deltans for Good Governance, the protesters registered their displeasure over what they described as the Chairman’s refusal to obey the Federal High Court ruling that disqualified Sheriff Oborevwori as PDP’s candidate in next year’s governorship election in the State.

The protesters, in their numbers, demanded the party’s compliance with Justice Taiwo’s ruling, carrying placards bearing inscriptions, such as “Ayu lacks the integrity to push PDP to victory”;  “Obey the Abuja FHC judgment”; and “BoT help Delta PDP before NWC kills the party”; among others.

Leader of the group, Chris Anthony, who spoke to the media, accused Ayu of ineffective leadership, saying; “There’s a burning issue in Delta State, and it’s about who is the rightful candidate of the PDP in the state. Everyone knows that PDP in Delta is the majority party, but with the action of the Party’s National Chairman, we are beginning to be convinced that Ayu is a mole in the party to trade the fortunes of the party to the opposition.

“We have seen Ayu not just as a mole, but also as an actor playing the script written by the opposition to actualise the emergence of an APC governor in Delta State. Ayu lacks the capacity to lead the PDP and so should honourably resign because he has demonstrated gross incompetence in handling the affairs of the party.

“He should resign. Ayu should resign because he cannot manage the affairs of the party well. We are talking about defending the democracy that thrives on the rule of law, but Ayu has willfully refused to obey a simple court judgment.”