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Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has fired back at Sen Iyorchia Ayu, National Chairman of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for saying he was a child when the party was formed and therefore cannot influence his removal from office as the national chairman of the party.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Governor Wike was speaking at the commissioning of the internal road in Omerelu community in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers on Thursday when he threatened to help the PDP lose the 2023 presidential election.
Responding to recent comments by Ayu, Wike said “Doctor Ayu said we are children. Yes, the children brought you from the gutter to make you chairman. Now we have seen that you don’t want the party to win election, we will help you.
“These children you said we are, that brought you from nothing. Ayu, you said you founded this party, but you left the party in 2007. You founded a company, you left the company, people stood and brought out the company to what it is today, you have no moral right to still come and claim that you founded that company, you left with your shares.
“You want to show integrity, you want to show a party to Nigeria that we want to take over, you must convince Nigerians that we have the integrity. You are the driver that will drive the vehicle to convey us to go our destination. That is the victory we are looking for.
“If the driver has no integrity and cannot show honesty, how do you convince Nigerians? If you tell Nigerians something and cannot do it, is it when you enter into power that you will do it?
“Nigerians have seen how ungrateful some of you can be, and that’s why Nigerians also want to be careful, if we give these people power, are you sure they will also be grateful to Nigerians”.
TNG reports that the PDP National Chairman had while speaking in an interview on the Hausa service of BBC on Wednesday fired shots at the Rivers State Governor, saying he was but a child when the party was formed.
Ayu argued the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar does not in any way affect his position as the party’s National Chairman, and described Governor Wike and members of his camp calling for his resignation as mere noisemakers and children, who were not available when he and other party chieftains laboured to form the party.
“I was voted as PDP Chairman for a four-year tenure and I’m yet to complete a year. Atiku’s victory doesn’t affect the Chairman’s position. I won my election based on our party’s constitution,” Ayu said.
When asked in specific terms about the call by Wike’s camp for his resignation among other conditions to support Atiku, he said: “All that he is doing does not affect me because I know I am fixing the party. I am doing my work diligently, I have not committed any offence. I have not stolen any money, so there is no reason for my resignation.
“When we started PDP, these children were not around. They are children who do not know why we formed the party. We will not allow any individual to destabilize our party. This is our country, so all that is expected of us is to fix the country, provide security and dividends of democracy when we take over power in 2023,” he said.
There have been cracks within the PDP camp since the outcome of the party national convention that produced Atiku as the party presidential candidate and the emergence of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.
Governor Wike was considered alongside Governor Okowa for the running mate slot. However, the Rivers State Governor became resentful after Atiku chose the Delta State Governor as his running mate. Although the PDP set up a panel to reconcile the two men, Wike insisted on the removal of the party’s chairman to mend the cracks in the party.
TNG reports that Atiku had last week met with the Governor in the United Kingdom as part of the reconciliation process