There were indications at the weekend that Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his supporters have returned to the trenches to fashion out new strategies on how to not only remove Senator Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but also install former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, as his replacement.
A source told Daily Sun that the Rivers governor and Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State left the country on Friday for a destination in Europe and may be joined by Governors Seyi Makinde and Okezie Ikpeazu of Oyo and Abia states respectively for another round of strategy session.
The Wike camp has been on warpath with the PDP and the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, since the emergence of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate. The aggrieved party leaders have continued to insist on Ayu’s replacement with someone from the South to create a North/South balance in the PDP, ahead of the 2023 polls.
Multiple sources told Daily Sun, yesterday, that Atiku’s stance that change of the party’s National chairman and replacement border on its constitution notwithstanding, the Wike camp is resolved in their bid to cause change of guards. Already, the Wike camp has penciled down Mimiko as replacement outside PDP’s constitution. It was gathered that the Rivers governor is not only pushing for Ayu’s resignation but also the removal of the National deputy chairmen to create room for Mimiko’s emergence.
A competent source said: “They are unrelenting. They are exploring different options to force Ayu out. But they would prefer the national chairman to just resigns quietly. They already pencilled down Mimiko as replacement. This is why Mimiko is with them.”
When reminded that Ayu’s removal and his replacement outside the provision of the party’s constitution could lead to litigation that would further derail the PDP, the source said: “The Wike camp doesn’t care. Their interest is to make a statement that they can’t be ignored. They want to dictate what happens,” he said.
Wike had last week, announced that he has no plan to quit the PDP over his stand-off with Ayu and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, noting that he would remain in the party and continue his fight for ‘inclusivity’.
The camp of the Rivers State governor, which include Governor Ortom; Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu; Governor Ikpeazu, and Governor Makinde, last week announced withdrawal from the PDP Presidential Campaign Council pending the replacement of Ayu as chairman of the opposition party.
Other members of the group are former PDP deputy national chairman, Olabode George, Donald Duke, Ayo Fayose, Ibrahim Dakwanmbo, Mimiko, Jonah Jang, former governors of Cross River, Ekiti, Gombe, Ondo and Plateau states respectively, amongst others.
However, while the PDP chairman has repeatedly said that he would not resign, Atiku has maintained that he cannot force Ayu to quit his position, except through constitutional means.
Another source at the PDP national secretariat, told Daily Sun that the supporters of the Rivers State governor believed that Ayu would eventually be forced to throw in the towel.
Stakeholders in the PDP have continued to kick against the move to remove Ayu before the 2023 polls, saying it would not be in the best interest of the party.
Former PDP national vice chairman (South West), Eddy Olafeso, told Daily Sun that sacking the national chairman now would not serve any useful purpose.
He said: “For all pragmatic purposes, election is just a couple of months away. What should be important and uppermost in the mind of all PDP leaders is how to win that election. The issue of the national chairman can wait. But revamping and rescuing Nigeria cannot wait. We want to appeal to everybody to see reason.
“I don’t think it will augur well for our party to dabble into unconstitutionality just a couple of months to the election. Removing Ayu for what purposes? All of us must go along with the just concluded NEC that passed a vote of confidence in Ayu. That is my advice to everybody. It will not augur well for anybody to continue to fight at this moment.”
Also a member of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), who pleaded anonymity, because of his relationship with one of the aggrieved governors, told Daily Sun, that inasmuch as he agrees that Ayu has not managed the crises well, replacing him would be counter-productive.
It was gathered that most PDP leaders do not want the removal of Ayu because the Rivers governor’s camp has always been involved, one way or another, in leadership changes in the party.
“We know the crisis the PDP had when Alhaji Bunu Sheriff Musa was chairman. They had a hand in his becoming chairman and removed him. They had a hand in the emergence of Prince Uche Secondus as chairman and they removed him. They also contributed to Ayu’s election as chairman and also want him out. This should not be allowed to continue, “ the source said.
–The Sun Newspaper