Atiku-Wike Crisis: PDP Governors May Pressure Ayu To Resig
Following the London face to face meeting of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, there are indications that governors of the PDP may put pressure on its chairman, Iyorchia Ayu to resign.
The resignation of Iyorchia Ayu is one of the demands of Wike and members of his group. At the meeting with Atiku and Wike in London were Governors Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia, Samuel Ortom, Benue, and Seyi Makinde, of Oyo State.
The suggestion to the governors to put pressure on Ayu to resign was part of the peace and reconciliation plans of party stakeholders to unite and strengthen the party ahead of the presidential election.
According to sources within the PDP, the delay in constituting the party’s Presidential Campaign Council was as a result of the lingering face off between Atiku and Wike.
Almost all the PDP’s 13 governors have taken different positions on the face off but a few of them are openly supporting Wike.
Already, some PDP party leaders have already positioned their candidates to take over from Ayu but the PDP deputy national chairman, South, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, is favoured to take over from Ayu after his resignation. Ambassador Arapaja is a staunch supporter of Governor Wike.
The gulf between Atiku and Wike widened when Atiku picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as running mate.
The reconciliation effort of Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, was not successful, the crisis became exacerbated due to altercations between leading members of both groups.
Speaking at the weekend, Senator Dino Melaye, spokesperson for the Atiku campaign team, said the PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, will not resign his appointment. He criticised governors backing Wike of acting in bad faith.
Melaye, said, “I want to start by saying that the PDP Governors were the ones who introduced and picked Iyorchia Ayu.
“You cannot give birth to a child in the morning and come back in the afternoon and disown the child, you are not going to be a good parents. We didn’t choose Ayu; the governors did and that is why Ayu was the consensus candidate. Did they field anybody against Ayu from the South during the convention? All of them including Governor Wike endorsed Ayu on convention day.
The position of Melaye is in sharp contrast with the views of members of the Wike group.
However, the views of members of Wike and Atiku groups may further complicate the quick reconciliation of the Wike and Atiku face off.