BoT receives list of peace conditions from aggrieved governors 

Precious Yusuf

New details have been revealed from the meeting between the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and select members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees when the latter visited him in Port Harcourt on Tuesday,October 4th.

The acting BoT Chairman, Adolphus Wabara; former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Tanimu Turaki; ex-Kogi State Governor, Ibrahim Idris, and four others were in Port Harcourt earlier in the week in search of peace over the issues rocking the party. 

There are indications that the BoT might advise the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign as all entreaties made to Wike so far have failed to yield any results. 

According to The PUNCH, on Thursday during the meeting, Wike wasted no time in telling his guests how the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had serially failed to fulfil all the promises he made to the five governors who are insisting on the removal of the party chairman.

A former national officer of the party said Wike, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved governors, left the PDP BoT members speechless after narrating all that had transpired. Wike also explained how the PDP standard bearer had disappointed the Southern bloc of the party over and over with many unfulfilled promises.

The PDP chieftain,  who served in the Uche Secondus-led executive, said that the governor vowed not to have anything to do with the PDP Campaign Council until the terms he offered were worked on and the embattled national chairman resigned from office.

Before the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, was picked as Atiku’s running mate, Wike was said to have nominated a former governor of a South-South state to serve as the vice-presidential candidate. The party’s standard bearer reportedly insisted on the Rivers State governor.

“Wike told them Atiku disappointed him. He said he didn’t bargain for vice president; it was Atiku who begged him. When he eventually agreed and he expected them to work something out, he came back to say he had picked Okowa,”a source reported Wike said. 

‘’But when Atiku chose Okowa, he didn’t come back to Wike and other governors to say anything. And the speech he made when he was unveiling Okowa was very disappointing,” the ex-PDP official quoted Wike to have said.

“Wike also told them that Atiku came to London and assured him that Ayu would resign to balance things. He also complained about the gang-up and sharing of positions which they had already done. Ayo Fayose and Dan Orbih were present during the meeting. By the time he told them all that, the BoT members were speechless and they were convinced that Wike had been wronged. He told them how he took care of the party when all of them left and how he never abandoned the party for a day,”it was revealed. 

It then came to light that the BoT asked Wike for the way to forge ahead in spite of the crisis surrounding the party. 

“After hearing all that transpired from Wike, they asked him the way forward. Wike replied that the only way forward was for Ayu to resign and that if Ayu does not resign, nobody should talk to him about PDP again. He vowed not to leave the party but at the same time he would not work for Atiku.”

The PDP chieftain also said Wike told the Wabara-led reconciliation committee how Atiku’s loyalists insulted him publicly and the former vice-president failed to caution them to order.

“Wike complained that there was a time Sule Lamido, Babangida Aliu and Tom Ikimi-all Atiku loyalists-were abusing him and Atiku refused to checkmate them until it got out of hand,” he added.

Meanwhile, a member of the BoT Reconciliation Committee, Shuaibu Oyedokun, also disclosed that a meeting of the advisory body would be held as soon as the committee’s report is readied.

Having visited all the governors in Wike’s camp as well as Atiku and his running mate, Oyedokun said the committee was now set to compile its report, preparatory to presenting it to the BoT.

“After compilation, we will submit our report to a larger BoT meeting which will consider it before submitting it to the NWC. The working committee will in turn present it to the National Executive Committee (NEC),” Oyedokun said.