Displeased governors of the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday met in Enugu to compass their coming move, following the visit of the presidential aspirant of the party, Atiku Abubakar to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, in his private residence on Thursday in Abuja. In attendance were Governors Wike, Seyi Makinde( Oyo), Samuel Ortom( Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu( Abia), and the host, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
The meeting is coming three days after Atiku held a private meeting with Wike where the presidential aspirant contended for his support ahead of the 2023 presidential election. The PDP presidential aspirant met with the Rivers governor as part of his renewed sweats to resolve the moping extremity between him and the five PDP governors led by Wike.
The Abuja meeting still ended in an impasse as the Rivers governor reportedly claimed that there would be no peace deal until the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu is removed from office. Wike, who lost to Atiku, had expressed his dissatisfaction with the exercise, stating that he was unfairly treated by the PDP and wasn’t carried along.
Wike claimed that Ayu must abdicate office but Atiku said he’d no power to remove the president. Atiku said if the president must be removed due process must be followed by the party’s constitution. A series of meetings between them and their representatives failed to address the extremity, Wike and some of his associates and abettors transacted the induction of the party’s presidential crusade council in Abuja last Wednesday.
Others who also transacted the event include Prof Jerry Gana; former governors Ayo Fayose, Jonah Jang, Donald Duke, and Olusegun Mimiko. A former deputy public president of the party, Chief Olabode George, was also absent. One of Wike’s close abettors, who was privy to what was said at the Abuja meeting, Senator Olaka Wogu, said the governor reiterated his demand to the former vice-president that there was no going back on his demand that Ayu must go. He affirmed that the meeting between Atiku and Wike ended in a stalemate after the governor stood establishment on his demands. Unconfirmed reports had claimed that Atiku promised to support Wike for the Presidency in 2027. This was latterly denied by Atiku’s crusade spokespersons.
Findings on Sunday revealed that in their determination to remove the PDP public president from office, the five displeased governors of the party led by Wike met in Enugu, the Enugu State capital for a strategy meeting. The governors, he noted, merited special praise for backing the cause of justice and equity, not only for the PDP but for Nigeria as a whole.
A leader on his own said he was going to quit if a northerner surfaced as the PDP’s flag deliverer. A northerner surfaced but he didn’t want to go. It’s a pity that some have chosen to shut up but these bones ( governors) are averring on the right thing to be done; we’ve to compliment them. Frontline member of the displeased governors ’ camp, who also verified the meeting, revealed that they met to review the conditions given to Atiku during his meeting with Wike in Abuja on Thursday. The meeting in Enugu is to review Atiku’s visit to the Rivers governor in Abuja. They had told him at the meeting that Ayu must go and that the condition isn’t negotiable. They also gave him some other conditions.
