Daybreak, Politics, Entertainment, Sport

Tag: PDP Crisis

  • PDP Crisis: Ayu is Corrupt, Collected N1bn from presidential Candidate in Lagos – Wike

    PDP Crisis: Ayu is Corrupt, Collected N1bn from presidential Candidate in Lagos – Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has accused the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, of being very corrupt.

    In a media chat with selected television stations on Friday, Wike said Ayu collected N1 billion from a presidential candidate.

    Wike said he was ready to mention the very candidate who the party’s Chairman received the money from if the need be.

    According to him, “Ayu is very corrupt. He cannot deny the fact that he is very corrupt.

    “Ayu collected N1 billion from Lagos. He collected 1bn from a presidential candidate and if he denies it, I will name who gave him the money.

    “Ayu met one of the presidential candidates and told him he doesn’t think the governors were ready to sponsor the party’s convention and he was given N1 billion.

    “That money is not in the party’s coffers. I can tell you the name of the businessmen who were present when he collected the money.”

  • PDP Crisis: Our Arrogant Actions Are Telling Nigerians Not To Trust Us – Wike

    PDP Crisis: Our Arrogant Actions Are Telling Nigerians Not To Trust Us – Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike has said that with the crisis rocking the People Democratic Party at the moment, the PDP is only telling Nigerians not to trust them ahead of the 2023 elections. 

    At a media chat in Port Harcourt on Friday, the Rivers State governor was of the opinion that the pride which threatens the peace of the party at the moment, might be its doom when the Nigerians head back to the polls.

    “We have not won election we are too arrogant, we have not won election and we are telling Nigerians look you cannot trust us, we say one thing and we do a different thing,” Wike asserted.

    Speaking further on the issue threatening the peace within PDP, Wike said it is sad that no southerner occupies any of the three top positions within the party.

    He added that the seed of discord was planted when the PDP shunned the zoning formula which would have seen a Southern candidate emerge as presidential flagbearer.

    Speaking on the way forward, Governor Wike stated that sacrifices must be made in order for PDP to win the election.

    “We sat there and he (Atiku) agreed with us that Ayu has to go what was remaining, he said we should give him one week… let Governor (Ahmadu) Finitiri, who is the governor of Adamawa State, let him tell Nigerians it is not correct.

    “Let Governor Seyi (Makinde) tell Nigerians it is not correct. For us to have peace let us move on, let bygone be bygone. What is the problem? You are the presidential candidate, just give chairmanship to the South…. Within that one week, we didn’t hear from the presidential candidate again. If the presidential candidate respects us, what stops him from calling us and saying, ‘look, I have gone to look at this thing and the constitutional issues’?

    “Even in that meeting, we told him to bring your lawyer, we will bring our lawyer let us sit down and work it out, but he never told us (no). All we now heard on TV was that there will be constitutional issues. We forgot that we have constitutional matters, that the constitution says we must zone, but now we have forgotten the constitution (and) now you are bringing constitutional matters,” Wike contended.

  • PDP: We Won’t Leave Like They Did in 2014, We’ll Stay to Fight for Equity – Wike

    PDP: We Won’t Leave Like They Did in 2014, We’ll Stay to Fight for Equity – Wike

    Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has said he is not leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the internal crisis plaguing the party.

    This is coming a day after the group loyal to the Rivers governor in PDP pulled out of the Presidential Campaign Council of the party over the failure of the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to heed the group’s call to resign because the party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar hails from the same northern region with the chairman.

    Atiku had in his response to the decision of Wike and his associates to pull out of the presidential campaign urged them to have a rethink, adding that the party was moving on with the tasks of naton building.

    The Rivers state governor Thursday said no matter the disagreement on the leadership of the party, he will remain to fight for unity, inclusivity, equity and peace in the PDP.

    Governor Wike stated this Thursday at the Rivers State PDP stakeholders meeting held at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

    He said as a man of character, his interest was to stay back and preserve the sanity of the party, unlike some of the members who cannot keep their words and walked out of the party at the Eagle Square in Abuja in 2014.

    “One thing I have always told people is if anybody is thinking, doing anything to think that we will leave PDP, foul. We will do the fight in the party. We are not like them, when in 2014 they walked out from Eagle Square. They’ve forgotten. They walked out and joined APC. Is it not correct?

    “Did they remain to fight inside the party? But we remained, they ran away. Now, there is a fight in the party, we will not run. We will fight it in this party. Those who run away from fight are weak people. We will not. So everybody should know this is the state where we are so that nobody tells you all kind of stories.”

    Governor Wike insisted that the constitution of the party clearly stated that elective and party offices must be zoned which, should be respected.

    Governor Wike wondered why the former PDP BoT chairman will be pressurised to resign and the PDP national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu was giving excuses to avoid doing what is right.

    “You have taken presidential candidate, you have taken party chairman, you have also taken the DG (director general) of the campaign. We are talking about party politics. Decisions are made by the presidential candidate, chairman of the party and the DG of the campaign.

    “They are telling you they told the chairman of the BOT to resign. So you know there is a problem. You said he should go and resign. You can put pressure on him to resign when his tenure hasn’t come to an end. But you cannot put pressure on the chairman to resign. You think at our level you will deceive us? You’ll tell us stories”

  • PDP Crisis: Atiku Reacts as Wike’s Camp Pulls out of Presidential Campaign

    PDP Crisis: Atiku Reacts as Wike’s Camp Pulls out of Presidential Campaign

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has reacted to the decision of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains to pull out of the 2023 campaign.

    The PDP presidential flagbearer also commented on their insistence that the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, leaves the position

    Atiku said he was surprised by their withdrawal because apart from the Rivers chapter, all other states submitted names of people who they wanted in the Presidential Campaign Council.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the Wazirin Adamawa noted that the decision of Ayu to resign from office is personal, and neither he nor anyone else can make that decision.

    “As a committed democrat and firm believer in the rule of law and democratic tenets, and our party being one set up, organized and regulated by law and our constitution, it is my absolute belief that everything that we do in our party must be done in accordance with, and conformity to, the law and our constitution.

    “If Dr. Ayu is to be removed from office, it must be done in accordance with the laws that set out the basis for such removal. In any event, you will all recall that the very body that is empowered by law to initiate this removal from office, has already passed a vote of confidence in him.

    “Now, our nation is currently in the throes of a multidimensional crisis encompassing insecurity, economic meltdown, disunity and mutual mistrust and educational dislocations, to mention a few.

    “I have a plan to address these issues and I have, graciously, been given the ticket to lead our great party in next year’s presidential elections, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure these ills.

    “It is in this light that I have reached out to every single member of our great party to join me in the massive undertaking required to reset the ship of state and help rebuild our country.

    “And it is my fervent hope and prayer that every man and woman of goodwill will join hands with us to help rebuild and reposition our beloved country.”

    Atiku urged PDP members that have stated their resolve to withdraw from the Presidential Campaign Council to rethink and retrace their steps.

    “The above notwithstanding and for the sake of our country, our children, and those yet unborn, we must not, for one minute, shirk our responsibilities to rebuild this beloved country of ours.

    “Accordingly, we must forge on with the task and the mandate that we have been bestowed with. It is time, therefore, to move on with the formidable tasks of nation building ahead of us”, his statement added.

  • Sacking Ayu will Deepen PDP Crisis – Atiku’s Spokesman

    Sacking Ayu will Deepen PDP Crisis – Atiku’s Spokesman

    Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation spokesman, Charles Aniagwu, has said sacking the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyiorcha Ayu, would plunge the main opposition party into deeper crises ahead of the 2023 general elections.

    Aniagwu disclosed this on Saturday in a Television programme in Asaba while providing reasons why the PDP was exploring other options for resolving its current crisis.

    According to Aniagwu, the PDP was taking another look at the issues based on what was permissible by the laws of the party.

    He said the suggestion that Ayu must step down has been overtaken by events after the vote of confidence by the National Executive Committee (NEC).

    He said, “Now if you decide to bring these two positions [National Chairman and the Deputy National Chairman] to the South, have you also made arrangements to take the National Secretary to the North?

    “Because of these legal impediments, the party, after examining it, felt that given the time, which is just about six months to the general elections, it may likely snowball into some form of crisis within the party.

    “The party felt that if we proceeded to make these changes, there is the tendency that we could dive into a crisis worse than the one we are seeing at the moment.

    “The leadership of the party is intelligent enough and I’m happy that Governor Nyesom Wike and other leaders appreciate the need for the party to move as a whole into the 2023 general elections.”

  • PDP Crisis: A day of Reckoning is Coming – Gov Wike

    PDP Crisis: A day of Reckoning is Coming – Gov Wike

    Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state says the time of reckoning is coming for those who continue to insist that they can take everything to themselves in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The governor maintained that nobody can silence him from speaking against such injustice and the demand for the right thing to be done.

    Governor Wike spoke at the inauguration of Emohua campus of Rivers State University, and the flag-off of staff quarters, performed by Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State on Wednesday.

    The Rivers State governor said such persons will definitely account for every wrong thing that they have done when the day of reckoning comes.

    “That is why I am telling the people there, look, it cannot work. You can’t take everything. If you take everything, it will purge you. So, better do the right thing now.

    Don’t sit there and think that you can muscle me and you can do everything, you can manipulate anything. You can think you have the number to make sure you take everything, but the time is coming when you will account for it.”he said

    Speaking further, he said;

    “If any PDP State is not doing well, don’t think you will be voted for because APC is not doing well. If PDP state, for example , if in Rivers State we didn’t do well, then you’ll say because APC did not do well at the national, then the people will vote for us. They’ll tell you PDP you didn’t do well in Rivers State. People don’t understand that. And that is why the party should respect us and know that we are the ones campaigning for the party. Because we have what to use to campaign.”

  • PDP Crisis: No One Has Offended Wike, He’s just an Individual – Lamido

    PDP Crisis: No One Has Offended Wike, He’s just an Individual – Lamido

    Former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, yesterday, dismissed the idea of reconciliation between the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar. Lamido said no one had offended the embittered governor of the oil rich state.

    The former foreign affairs minister also sent a subliminal message to Wike, who often took pride in his supposed control of Rivers State, saying being governor is not an indication that he also has monopoly over the state.

    Nonetheless, Atiku and Wike were set to meet in Paris, in furtherance of moves to resolve the post-presidential primary crisis rocking PDP. That was amid rumour that Wike was already frolicking with the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    The former Jigawa State governor, who spoke on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, said PDP should leave Wike alone, because if anyone had offended him at all, it was the convention, and not any individual.

    Describing Wike as an emperor in Rivers, Lamido said those who had so far visited the governor as part of a reconciliatory move between him and Atiku were well-wishers, who did so at their individual levels.

    Lamido stated, “Listen, get this very well, those who met are simply well-wishers. They are not known from the party, but well-wishers of both Atiku and Wike.

    “Now, the convention produced a candidate, who won the primaries. If there is any offence, it is the convention, who offended Wike and not Atiku, not party Chairman, not anybody.

    “If he attacks the convention, which produced him as governor on two occasions, and produced his candidate for governorship and other positions in Rivers State, that means there is a problem. So, nobody has offended anybody.

    “Those who are meeting with Wike are well-wishers of Atiku, who want peace in the PDP. They are not for PDP but for Atiku, as a person and not as a candidate. Wike is a PDP man and he says he wants to reconcile, reconcile with who? Who offended who?”

    When asked if he was sure Wike would not leave the party or work against Atiku in next year’s election, Lamido said, “Wike is an individual, I don’t think, because he is a governor there, he has a total monopoly of the whole Rivers State.

    “He was too bombastic. ‘I will not allow this, I will not allow this’, which one will he allow? Please, leave Wike alone. He has the right to do whatever he wants. He is the emperor in Rivers and is only speaking because he is a bluff.”

  • PDP Crisis: Atiku, Wike Meet In Abuja

    PDP Crisis: Atiku, Wike Meet In Abuja

    Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar met with Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike in Abuja on Thursday.

    The meeting was held behind closed doors and neither party officially confirmed it held.

    However credible sources told Channels Television that the duo met as efforts to resolve their differences continue within the PDP.

    The meeting reportedly held at the residence of Professor Jerry Gana, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees.

    The PDP board on Wednesday had resolved to reconcile both parties ahead of the 2023 general elections,

    Wike is expected to back Atiku in the 2023 general elections but indications have emerged that the Rivers State Governor is unhappy after being passed over for the party’s vice presidential ticket.

    Last Friday, Wike slammed Atiku Abubakar for lying against him, although he vowed to remain in the PDP.

    Atiku has promised to united the party ahead of the presidential poll next year.

  • PDP Crisis: I Won’t Rest Until All Aggrieved Members Are Brought Back – Atiku

    PDP Crisis: I Won’t Rest Until All Aggrieved Members Are Brought Back – Atiku

    Following the crisis that engulfed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as vice presidential candidate of the opposition party, the Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to put in place measures to placate all aggrieved members.

    Recall we had reported how the choice of Okowa plunged the opposition party into crisis.

    Amid the full-blown disagreement among party leaders, some persons called for the eviction of the national chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu.

    In a chat with Daily Trust on Thursday, Atiku’s spokesman, Mr. Paul Ibe, said since the conclusion of the process that produced Okowa, the former vice-president had commenced the process of bringing members of the party together.

    He said it was normal for people to be aggrieved after such exercise but added that he would not rest until every party member is on the same page in the bid to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “The unity of the PDP is paramount to him, because he sees it as a step towards unifying the country as a whole after seven years of division arising from the non inclusiveness of the APC administration.

    “He will not relent until every stakeholder, every leader of the party and member is brought on board. They should know that the enemies are not within PDP, they are the APC that have made life unbearable for the people. So it is important for everyone to join hands and make sure the APC is kicked out. The process has been on, it is ongoing and he will continue the process until everyone is brought on board.”

    Commenting on the PDP crisis earlier on Thursday, Atiku had said efforts were bring made to resolve grievances of party members.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party will remain united. Focus on our actions. We are taking action to address the feelings of all party members. The unity in our community is my priority. Our resolve to unify Nigeria starts in our party and moves to the community, then on to society.”

    “Every Governor, Legislator, and other elected officials produced by our party, and party members and loyalists, are much loved and respected by me. When they speak, I listen. I do not only listen. Appropriate actions have been taken, are being taken, and will continue to be advanced,” he had tweeted.