National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, Wednesday, said despite the raging leadership crisis in the party, PDP would win over 25 states and majority seats at the National Assembly in the 2023 general election. Ayu said this at a meeting with the 28 PDP governorship candidates.
But in Bauchi State, the governor, Bala Mohammed, said he was not aware of any on-going reconciliation meeting between some members of the party and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
Relatedly, a PDP member of the House of Representatives from Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency in Rivers State, Hon. Farah Dagogo, assured the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, of the unflinching support of the Niger Delta people. Dagogo said a 10-million-man march for the presidential hopeful was being planned in the region.
However, Special Assistant on Media to Wike, Mr. Kelvin Ebiri, lambasted former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, over what he described as Lamido’s disdainful remarks against his principal on Channels television.
Speaking at a meeting with the 28 PDP governorship candidates, Ayu said, “We are happy that the members of the party are very determined that we don’t just win at the national level. State Houses of Assembly, National Assembly, state governorship, we want to return about 25 state governors or more as we used to have. So, the mood in the party is excellent.”
Ayu said the governorship candidates came to express their concerns in their various states. He stated , “They briefed us on the efforts they are making in their various states 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 they have made so far in various states and some of the little issues that we have clarified and it was an extremely useful meeting.”
Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Mohammed, who is seeking re-election said, “I am not aware of the meeting between other party members and Governor Wike”, adding that the PDP chairman has already spoken, and that the governorship candidates were loyal party members.
According to the governor, “We believe in the supremacy and sanctity of the party and he has already told you that the mood is very excellent. 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 asked him all the questions 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.”
Speaking also, the Kaduna State governorship candidate and chairman of PDP Governorship Candidates’ Forum, Isa Mohammed Ashiru, said, “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. We are home and dry. We don’t have crisis in PDP. I don’t know where you got this information.”
Dagogo Plans 10 Million-Man March for Atiku in Niger Delta
Dagogo assured Atiku and Okowa of the unwavering support of the Niger Delta ahead of the 2023 presidential election. The former governorship aspirant in Rivers State, spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Lawal. He noted that such support would be demonstrated in the coming days.
Lawal said a 10-million-man march for Atiku and Okowa was already at an advanced stage and would be held in the coming days across the Niger Delta states, to further galvanise the people and prove to naysayers that the region was for PDP.
The federal lawmaker dismissed fears of protest votes from the region against the party as a fallout of the PDP presidential primaries, saying the Niger Delta has been a traditional stronghold of the PDP from 1999 till date and 2023 would not be an exception.
He said the people of the region remembered and held the PDP in awe as the only party that ensured the region produced the president of the country through Goodluck Jonathan.
According to Dagogo, “Let no one be deceived, conducting elections in Nigeria has metamorphosed, the voting power is with the people. No one can order anyone around, on who to vote or not, no matter how highly placed, because the people are the deciders with their PVCs and votes.
“PDP has been true and fair to our people. It was by the means of this party that we clinched the president seat in this country through our son, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, among several other benefits.
“We are at an advanced stage in plans for a 10-million-man march for Atiku and Okowa across the states of the Niger Delta, particularly, Rivers State. We have spoken with the people, those that will vote, the real voters with PVCs, not political sycophants, and we have been able to galvanise a lot of them.”
Lamido Cracking the Wall of Unity in PDP, Says Wike’s Aide
Special Assistant on Media to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Mr Kelvin Ebiri, criticised Lamido, over disdainful remarks against Wike on Channels television.
The former foreign affairs minister had during his appearance on national television insisted that nobody offended the Rivers State governor and, therefore, no basis for reconciliation.
But Ebiri, in his reaction, noted that Lamido had a right to his opinion, but had no right to malign Wike, whose immense contribution, he said, had sustained PDP. He said Lamido should rather proffer solution to the peace of the party than making speeches capable of inciting grievances and division.
The statement said, “We have observed with disgust the disdainful remarks made by the former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, about Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, during his recent interview on Channels television.
“While, we cannot deny that Alhaji Lamido has an inalienable right to his personal opinion, we wish to declare that he, however, lacks the right to malign Governor Wike, whose immense contributions to the sustenance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is not in dispute.
“It is rather appalling that at a time, when concerted efforts are being made by lovers of true democracy and the unity of the party to resolve some inherent contradictions plaguing the PDP, Alhaji Lamido and his cohorts, who have since lost their relevance in the polity, are busy creating friction and schism.
“Governor Wike, has never claimed to be custodian of the over three million votes in Rivers State. But as the leader of the PDP and good people of Rivers State, anyone who underrates the governor’s political pedigree or dares to ignore his influence in the state and beyond, will be doing so at his own peril.
“We wish to remind Alhaji Lamido that Governor Wike has never left anyone in doubt about his capacity to sway the voters in Rivers State in a direction that benefits the people and the state, in the overall. When he speaks, Rivers people will listen, no doubt.
“Perhaps, Alhaji Lamido thinks Nigerians are suffering from selective amnesia to have forgotten in a hurry the ignoble role he and his cohorts played between 2014 and 2015, that culminated in the defeat of the PDP in 2015 general election.
“We hope that he is not up in such scheme again to cause a repeat of that history. Otherwise, if Alhaji Lamido has any modicum of conscience, he won’t be making disparaging comments about Governor Wike, whom many have described as the pillar of the PDP since 2015.”
Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
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