Wike gets Rivers PDP support on call for Ayu’s resignation – Nexus News
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has pledged to support the position of its leader, Governor Nyesom Wike, that National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu must resign.
There are ongoing discussion between the governor’s group and the team of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in a bid to settle the crisis rocking the party.
State Publicity Secretary, Tambari Sydney Gbara, stated that it was unfortunate that some party chiefs in the state decides to neglect provisions of the PDP constitution.
He wondered why Senator Lee Maeba was against the call for Ayu’s resignation.
Portraying Wike as the unchallengeable leader of the party in the state, Gbara stated that the entire party structure in Rivers was behind the governor.
He said: “Governor Wike is the leader of PDP in Rivers State. Therefore, where he stands, is where we stand as a party.”
He stressed that the call for Ayu’s resignation was in line with the provisions of the PDP’s constitution, which opposes at a particular region of the country producing both the national chairman and presidential candidate of the party.
He said: “In 2007 and 2008, when President Musa Yar’Adua emerged as the standard bearer of the PDP at the national level, Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd) who was the national chairman then, had to resign.
“A mini-convention was immediately convened that brought Prince Vincent Ogbulafar from the South, to balance up. Therefore, why should it be different now?”
Gbara said the decisions of many leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to leave their party and former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, had further provided eloquent testimonies of Wike’s leadership skills.
He called some of the opposition leaders that recently pitched tents with the PDP as Sam Sam Jaja, Chris Finebone, George Tolofari, Adoye Wilcox, Princewill Dike, among others.
He said the present crisis were expected from any party in transition, emphasizing that it had not affected the consolidation of PDP in the state.
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He said: “Nobody sees something good and will not want to identify with it. The truth is that our leader, the executive governor, has done so well that people are being attracted to the party.
“They have seen the extent to which he had developed the state as a second term governor. He is not just inaugurating projects, he is still flagging off projects.
“It is something amazing. That is why we see people who were the pillars of the opposition party coming to the PDP.
“The next election is a complete walkover for PDP in Rivers. But we are not sleeping. We are putting our house together to start our campaigns after the PVC collection rally. We will work very hard to reach the nooks and crannies of the state and preach the gospel of PDP.
“Governor Wike has given us a lot of things to talk about and campaign with. We will keep consolidating at the grassroots to retain Rivers State.
“People should join the winning team. They should be part of the good things happening in Rivers. PDP members should be steadfast and continue to support Wike.
“There is no crisis in the party. It is a transition period and you see things like this happening.
“But as a party and a family we already know that at this time certain persons who might be disgruntled will express themselves, but it is nowhere affecting the consolidation of PDP in the state. We are on ground and united as a party.”
