Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), cannot be saved by a vote of confidence, according to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, just as Uche Secondus could not be saved by the assurance measure adopted by the PDP’s National Executive Committee in April 2021.
I was watching and listening when they mentioned a man they called Secondus. He was allegedly dancing in celebration of NEC giving their candidate a vote of confidence.
“He (Secondus) forgets history that the same NEC, led by Aliyu Babangida, moved a motion for a vote of confidence that was backed by the same individual, Ndudi Elumelu. What transpired after they handed him a vote of confidence? When he met hundreds of APC members who had switched to the PDP in the oil-rich state of Port Harcourt on Saturday, Wike stated, “He left office.
Although they are rumoured to be related, a quarrel last year ruined their friendship, and the governor of Rivers asked that Secondus resign as PDP chairman. A court later terminated Secondus’ employment in August of last year.
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Speaking on Saturday, Wike demanded that Secondus return to Rivers to rally support for the PDP before the 2023 elections and requested that Ayu relinquish the party’s leadership to a southerner.
We don’t fight, and we turn around, the governor remarked. You are welcome to express your confidence as many times as you’d like; but, it is not my concern as long as the proper thing is done, which must be done whether it is done today or tomorrow.
“Therefore, let anyone bother themselves. If you’re dancing, go home and continue to dance as you raise support for the candidate you believe will win. I’m waiting for him here. This game is over with the 419. It’s enough already.
“All that is left is for INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) to sound the alarm. We shall be able to distinguish between those in authority of Rivers State and those who are merely tourists once they blow the whistle.
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In light of the crises wracking the main opposition party, the PDP NEC in Abuja reportedly passed a vote of confidence in Ayu earlier.
Adolphus Wabara, a former Nigerian Senate president from Abia State, took over as acting BoT chair when the party’s board of trustees chairman, Nasarawa State native Walid Jibrin, resigned.
The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar (from Adamawa State), personally informed Wike when he won the May primary that Ayu must resign from his post as party chairman, therefore Wike demanded that Ayu, who is from Benue State, must step down for a southerner.
Wike, who was defeated by Atiku in the party’s presidential primary in May, has argued that it is unfair that northerners cannot hold the party’s two most important positions.