A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is a member of the party's reconciliation committee set up by the Board of Trustees (BoT) to meet with aggrieved party members, including Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has admitted that the crisis in the party was not well managed when it first started.
The party chieftain who spoke with newsmen on condition of anonymity said the BoT has looked deeply into the matter and agreed that sacking PDP chairman, Iyorchia Ayu as demanded by the aggrieved members will hurt its processes in the 2023 election, but has resolved to deal with the Rivers State Governor, in a different manner. According to the BoT committee member, the committee is ready to submit its report this weekend and from its resolutions, forcing Ayu out is not an option. He noted that due to the timing, especially with the commencement of campaigns, it will be disastrous to the opposition camp which is seeking to return to power, to force out Ayu his position before the 2023 elections. Naija News recalls that PDP's internal crisis began after the presidential primary which handed the party's ticket to former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku. It deepened even when Atiku shunned Wike to choose the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate. It could be recalled that the party's crisis was earlier managed by the previous committee chaired by Walid Jibrin. Subsequently, in August 2022, another committee was set up with members drawn from the BoT to intervene in rifts in the party. The Adolphus Wabara-led committee has concluded the reconciliation tours that took it to Ibadan, Makurdi, Umuahia, Enugu and Port Harcourt to meet with governors Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Wike of Oyo, Benue, Abia, Enugu and Rivers states, respectively. In the build-up, the committee is expected to meet with the National Working Committee before presenting the report, Naija News learnt. “We have started putting the report together. We hope to get it ready next week (this week). We agreed not to talk to the press about the issue. We are making progress. “We listened to Wike and I must admit that he has good intentions for the party and our presidential candidate. When we met him, he explained his grievances to us and we almost agreed to everything he said. It is the fault of our leaders. They did not handle it well. “They ought to have called him and others immediately after the primary and hold meetings with them. We cannot do without him. We need him in our campaign council. He has charisma for campaigns, he has people around him and he also has some governors with him, and the money to spend," the source told The PUNCH over the weekend. “But I think it is too late in the day to ask Ayu to go. It is practically not possible. We may have to listen to him and appeal to others like Wike to allow us to manage the situation now because we cannot afford to lose the elections," he added. Naija News recalls that Wike and members of his camp have met severally with Atiku and other chieftains of the party both in Nigeria and outside the country to end the lingering crisis. The issues, however, persist as Wike's camp further demonstrated their dissatisfaction by boycotting the inauguration of the party’s presidential campaign council on September 28. However, apart from Makinde, who openly demanded Ayu’s removal, Ortom on Friday asked the national chairman to either resign or beg if he must retain his seat.This article was originally published on Naija News
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