PDP Crisis: Wike spills the beans, daring the party to suspend him

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

The crisis afflicting the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP has gone unnoticed.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike dared the party to suspend him for alleged anti-party activities and face the consequences in a candid television interview yesterday.

He made the claim after alleging that the party’s National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, whom he has been campaigning against, received N1 billion from an unnamed source in Lagos prior to the PDP presidential primaries.

Wike spoke as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, warned his aides not to insult the Rivers State governor, saying there is still room for reconciliation.

Atiku’s spokesman, Daniel Bwala, revealed this on television, saying, “Wike remains a pride of the party.”

The can of worms of Wike

When asked what he would do if the party deemed his activities anti-party and decided to suspend him, Wike responded, “Who will suspend me? What do you think my role is here? I’m not saying I’m bigger than the party, but those who fled the party cannot expel me from it. I beg them to come and suspend me today, today, today. They will take whatever they see.

“Ayu is tainted. Cite me. I am the governor of Rivers State and a lawyer. Can Ayu deny receiving one billion Naira in Lagos? He told one of the PDP’s presidential candidates before the primaries that the governors “weren’t ready to fund the party.”

Wike claims to have information on “how the money was arranged and who was involved in packaging the money.” He accumulated a billion dollars. Allow him to tell Nigerians it’s not true, and I’ll tell you more.”

The Rivers State governor expressed disappointment that those advocating for sanctions against him were party leaders with no electoral value and who had made little contribution to the party since its inception.

“Since 1999, the PDP has never won in Yobe State,” Wike said, referring to a party chieftain, Adamu Waziri. You have zero in your state, whereas Rivers has 100. But you’re making noises about sanctioning the man who has done so much for the party.”

Ayu, retired generals plotted against my advancement.

Wike also revealed that some ex-military generals and top-ranking party leaders conspired with Ayu to prevent him from becoming the party’s presidential candidate, both individually and collectively.

“Meetings were going on even on the convention night,” he explained. That’s why our convention started late. There were some retired generals present. Some meetings were held in their homes. They tried everything to get me to resign.

“Those who know me know that I would have stopped the convention even if heaven fell.” But, as I previously stated, the convention must continue in order for peace to reign. There is now a candidate. And we must win elections as a party. The pinnacle is winning elections.

“However, the right things must be done.” It was agreed, and the party has followed this practice, that if the candidate is from the North, the national chairman should be from the South. All of this is known to the candidate (Atiku). When he came to my house in Abuja, he said it to me.

He also revealed that Ayu threatened party officials and stakeholders with resignation if Wike became a candidate.

According to him, a group of retired generals and influential party members held marathon meetings on the night of the party’s presidential primary and special convention to ensure he did not emerge, with some of the meetings taking place in ex-generals’ homes on the night of the party’s convention.

This, he claimed, contributed to the delay on the convention grounds on the day of the PDP presidential primary.

Wike slammed Ayu, accusing him of conspiring with certain interests to ensure former Vice President Atiku Abubakar became a candidate.

“A whole national chairman told some aspirants that if Wike wins, he will resign,” he said. He allowed Aminu Tambuwal to speak a second time as the convention’s chairman. Look, integrity is important. And after everything, he (Ayu) went and hugged Tambuwal, the convention’s hero.

“I stand up for justice, fairness, and equity.” I’m not claiming to be larger than the party. Those who leave the party will not be able to keep it going. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner, violating both convention and the constitution.

“Why did we abandon our party’s constitution and now talk about the rule of law?” We would not be in this situation if we had followed Section 7 subsection 3. I will remain a member of the PDP in order to fight for justice. I am not the type of man who will flee when he sees fire.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it.” To get out of this, sacrifice must be made. Let us do the right thing so that peace can reign. We must do the right thing for inclusivity, to ensure that everyone belongs to one house, and for national unity. We cannot, as things stand, undermine this factor of marginalization. You must demonstrate your ability to bring everyone together.”

He went on to say, “Why did they put pressure on the BOT chairman to resign but couldn’t put pressure on the party’s National Chairman to resign?”

“Instead of doing the right thing, they are calling you names.” Wike is both of these things. All of this will not get us anywhere. We have become so arrogant that we haven’t even won the election.”

Those who betrayed Jonathan and the PDP between 2014 and 2015

Wike pointed out that the same people who betrayed the then-PDP President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the party on the issue of zoning were also attempting to game the system on the same issue.

“The party constitution states that the party and elective offices will be zoned. It is obvious. There is no ambiguity. However, people will always attempt to manipulate the system to suit their purposes. They slant stories in order to deceive the public. The founding fathers recognized the country’s complexities. They did it in such a way that no problems arose.

“History should not be forgotten.” There was an issue with the presidential candidate in 2013 and 2014. Jonathan appeared. Atiku and others left the convention. Tambuwal and the former Senate President all left the chamber.

“Jonathan tried everything to reach out to them. But they turned him down. As President, he traveled to London to meet with Atiku, but he was turned down. Former Governor Babangida Aliyu acknowledged that they had all agreed to work against Jonathan.”

They’ve already exchanged appointments and positions.

Wike also claimed that Atiku and his supporters have already shared positions in preparation for victory in 2023.

“Some people are being appointed right now. Ayu aspires to be the SGF. These are things that are going on in the party that we cannot discuss publicly.

“You see, when we discussed Ayu, it appears that people are unaware of what is involved. Ayu wishes to be in charge. So he’ll be there, and if we (the PDP) win the presidential election, he’ll be the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“You know, these positions have been shared, and then they’re talking to’small boys’ like us to act as if we have no idea what’s going on.”

“I can tell you that because most of you have no idea what’s going on at the party.” Someone has been appointed as Senate President. And do you think I’m going to sit here on national TV and tell you things I don’t know? We can’t say anything here because of confidentiality and certain things.”