Governor Nyesom Wike has dismissed the purported resignation at the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as a charade orchestrated by the Ayu led team just to divert attention from the real issues.
Wike spoke at the inauguration of the Ahoada campus of the Rivers State University and flag-off of staff quarters, which was performed by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday.
The governor said, “Ayu said if the presidential candidate comes from the North, that he will resign after the convention of our party, and that the chairman of our party will come from the South.
“When the North-Central leaders met in the house of Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State; he said so there. When he met the caucus of the Senate, he told them that.
“Now, when we finished our convention on Sunday, the candidate of the party came to see me in my house in Abuja on Monday around 10.30 am. The candidate told me he wants us to work together, and then he said, ‘Look, Ayu must go’. I said ‘why?’ He (Atiku) said because when a candidate comes from the North, the chairman will come from the South.”
It could be recalled that at the party’s NEC meeting Thursday, the BoT Chairman Walid Jibrin announced his resignation saying the decision was made to ensure the party’s presidential candidate emerges victorious in the 2023 elections.
He said, “I took this decision based on what I said in the past. I said that all we want to make sure of is that Atiku Abubakar becomes the president by all means, and that is why I sincerely decided to step down from the BoT. I discussed this with the candidate and he agreed with me. I am sure if the party wins, I will be given a bigger position.”
Ayu appreciated Jubril for serving the party meritoriously.
Unimpressed by Jibrin’s resignation, the Rivers State governor, Wike has vowed to sustain the fight for a return to a healthy party structure that would allow for an even representation of the interest of the North and South in the national leadership of the PDP.
The governor said the current leadership structure where the north holds the presidential ticket, as well as the national chairman position, was against the constitution of the party and a gross injustice to the South.