Allies of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike, shunned a meeting between the Peoples Democratic Party National Working Committee (NWC) and the 36 States gubernatorial candidates in Abuja, yesterday.
The meeting chaired by the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was summoned to enable him and members of the NWC interface with the party’s gubernatorial candidates.
Daily Sun investigations showed that the Rivers State governor’s supporters who did not attend the meeting included the Rivers State governorship candidate, Siminialayi Fubara, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde who is said to be out of the country and Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.
Sources said the absence of Wike’s allies may not be unconnected with the ongoing faceoff between him and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as well as the insistence by Wike’s loyalists that Ayu must resign for a southern candidate as a condition for reconciliation.
The Rivers Governor has been at daggers drawn with the party since the emergence of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as vice presidential candidate.
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The intervention by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) in the crisis recently resulted in Wike and Atiku setting up a peace committee to resolve all grey areas and report back to a larger committee. However, efforts to resolve the crisis is yet to yield amicable solution.
In an interview with journalists after the meeting, Ayu said he was impressed by the progress being made by the party across the country and expressed optimism that the party would win the 2023 general elections, both at the national and state levels.
“The candidates expressed their concerns in their various states. They briefed us on efforts they are making to win the election. As you know, the elections will be won in the states, not just at the national level.
“I am very happy with the progress that have made so far in their states, we have clarified some of the little issues, it was an extremely useful meeting. So, we are happy that members of the party are determined that we don’t just win at the national level but also at the state Assemblies, National Assembly, governorship, we want to return about 25 state governors or more as we used to have. So, the mood in the party is excellent.”
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said they believed in the supremacy and sanctity of the party.
Responding to a question on the meeting reportedly held between Wike and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mohammed said he was not aware of it.
“The candidates are coming together, uniting the party to discuss even issues of reconciliation . So, it is a very democratic party, he is open and we have ask him all the question that we need to ask about how to win the elections and then the strategies are ours, we don’t have to relate it to the media now, but certainly we are on course.”
On the ongoing crisis within the party, governorship candidate of Kaduna State, Isa Ashiru, told journalists: “We are here on a consultative meeting with our leaders on the way forward and we have extended discussions and views, regarding the 2023 elections and we are home and dry. We don’t have crisis in PDP. I don’t know where you got this information.”
Also present at the meeting were Ifeanyi Odii, Oborevwori Sheriff, Peter Mbah, Umo Eno, Ladidi Adebutu, PDP governorship candidates in Ebonyi, Delta, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Ogun states respectively, among others.
