The national executive council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday saved the embattled chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu by endorsing his stay in office.
He was given a clean bill at the 97th NEC meeting of the party held in Abuja.
To assuage the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike and many top members of the party from the south who championed for Ayu’s resignation, the chairman of the party’s board of trustees, Mr. Walid Jibrin, resigned from office and was replaced with a former senate president, Mr. Adolphus Wabara, in an acting capacity.
Speaking at the meeting, Ayu denied that there was a crisis in the party, describing what was happening in the party as a normal disagreement.
He assured members that the disagreements would be resolved before the 2023 election.
“This party is united despite the impression some people might want to create. Anybody here would see the enthusiasm and harmony in the party. It is normal to have disagreements.
“This party knows how to settle its rifts before the election. We need to focus on security, which, among others is Nigeria’s biggest worry. We will come out of this meeting stronger than we have ever been.”
Also, Wabara said with the ambience at the meeting and the internal mechanism to resolve the crisis, the party could go to sleep ahead of the 2023 elections.
“Today (yesterday) is a great day for us and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We have an in-built mechanism to solve feuds. When people expect us to implode, that is when we come out stronger.
“With this, I can boldly say we can go to sleep; we have won the 2023 election. We should always debrief ourselves in-house rather than play to the gallery. We should watch our utterances. It is only God that knows tomorrow.
“Once you voiced a word, it is always difficult to withdraw. My advice to us is to be mature enough to control ourselves. There is no problem in life that has no solution. The campaign starts, and everything has changed with the NWC. We should go home and ensure our votes count. We are in support of the national committee on this.”
For his part, Atiku assured the party leadership that all disagreements would be resolved.
“Family disagreements are normal but what I can assure you is that we are determined to resolve them internally. The PDP is the oldest party in Nigeria. We have rules, and regulations and I want to add, that no matter the level of disagreement, it must be resolved with the rules of the party. All our disagreements must be resolved internally.”
He cautioned that all efforts at resolving the issues must be within the Constitution and rules of the party.
“Many speakers have alluded to family disagreements, which are normal in families as well as political families. But what I can assure you is that we are determined to resolve those issues internally.
“As a political party we have our Constitution, our rules and regulations. I want to urge that no matter the level of disagreement, it should be resolved within our rules,” he added.
Meanwhile, Wike vowed to sustain the fight for a return to a healthy party structure that would allow for an even representation of the interest of the north and south in the national leadership of the PDP.
He spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the Ahoada campus of the Rivers State University and flag-off of staff quarters, which was performed by the governor of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde.
Wike said the current leadership structure where the north holds the presidential ticket, as well as the national chairman position, was against the constitution of the party and a gross injustice to the south.
Wike said Jibrin’s resignation as the BoT chairman was a distraction because Atiku had told him that Ayu must relinquish his position.
“Ayu said if the presidential candidate comes from the North, he will resign after the convention of our party, and that the chairman of our party will come from the south.
When the north central leaders met in the house of the Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed, he said so there. When he met the caucus of the Senate, he told them that.
“Now, when we finished our convention on Sunday, the candidate of the party came to see me in my house in Abuja on Monday around 10:30 a.m. The candidate told me he wants us to work together, and then he said: ‘Look, Ayu must go.’
“I said, why? He (Atiku) said because when a candidate comes from the North, the chairman will come from the South.
“They have today told the BoT chairman to resign. Who is talking about chairman of BoT? What is the role of a BoT? It is an advisory body. We have never zoned BoT. It is not a decision-making body. Those who run the party as it is today are the presidential candidate and the chairman.
“They will sit down and take decisions. The candidate is from the north, the chairman is from the north, who will represent the south in decision making? It is not about me. They are flying propaganda; will I be chairman of a party? No,” Wike said.
The governor said it was erroneous to think that he was bent on destroying the party when he was actually advocating for justice and equity.
“Some of you don’t know what’s happening in the country. You’re being deceived, they’ll tell you this Wike is causing problem. Wike is not causing problem. Wike is bringing peace to this country. Wike is advocating for justice, Wike is advocating for equity, Wike is advocating for development,” he added.
A total of 397 NEC members, including past national chairmen of the party, immediate past vice president, Mr. Namadi Sambo, Atiku, among others attended the meeting.
Only four PDP state governors were in attendance. They were Aminu Tambuwal, Darius Ishaku, Douye Diri of Bayelsa and Bala Mohammed of Sokoto, Taraba, Bayelsa and Bauchi states respectively.
