Politics

PDP Crisis: Aggrieved Govs Report Atiku To BoT, List Peace Conditions

Published

3 years ago

October 7, 2022

Fresh details have emerged about 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.

Acting BoT Chairman, Adolphus Wabara; former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Tanimu Turaki; ex-Kogi State Governor, Ibrahim Idris, and four others were in Port Harcourt earlier in the week in search of peace following a lingering crisis that showed no sign of abating.

However, 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 fallen on deaf ears.

Sources told The PUNCH on Thursday that 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, including 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, told our correspondent that the governor vowed not to have anything to do with the PDP Campaign Council unless the embattled national chairman resigned from office.

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

The source said, “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.

‘’But when Atiku chose Okowa, he didn’t come back to them (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.

Continuing, the party chieftain 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.’’

According to him, “By the time he told them all that, they (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.

“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 loyalist 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, has disclosed to The PUNCH that a meeting of the advisory body would hold as soon as the committee’s report is ready.

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 NEC (National Executive Committee),” Oyedokun said.

In a separate interview with The PUNCH, former Jigawa State Governor and NEC, Lamido, came short of ruling out an immediate solution to the crisis saying, “It (reconciliation) is a continuous process up to the elections and even beyond.”

Like Lamido, a former National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the party, Eddy Olafeso, wants Nigerians to be patient with the party, stressing that the crisis would become a thing of the past in no distant time.

On when NEC was likely to receive the report of the reconciliation committee, Olafeso stated, “When they are done, they will give their report to the NWC and from there to NEC for deliberation. The party is one and we have established positions. We are on course in the desire to reconcile all members of our party.’’
PUNCH

Politics

I’m Not Ready To Go Into The Gutters With Anyone – Makinde

Published

1 day ago

August 21, 2025

Editor

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, said he is not ready to “go low with anyone who decides to go into the gutters.”

He made this statement while addressing journalists shortly after the South-West zoning consultative summit of the Peoples Democratic Party, held in Lagos.

He said, “Personally, when people go low or go into the gutters, I don’t go with them. Some people are now going into the gutters. We will reach out to them. That is democracy.

“I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal here. It should be about what we are giving to Nigerians because they are watching.”

The governor added that despite challenges, recent elections had shown that the PDP remained a formidable force.

“In all our states, they showed last Saturday that PDP is not dead. In most other places of the 12 states, PDP came second. It is an indication to us that if we continue to work hard, we can reclaim the confidence of Nigerians,” he said.

When asked about discussions on zoning of the PDP presidential ticket to the South, Makinde said the party was not yet at that stage.

“We haven’t even gotten there. We need to have a party first before you start talking about presidential candidates. If we don’t have a party, anything you are trying to do will fall flat.

“Our efforts right now are directed towards having a vibrant and united PDP that Nigerians will be proud of and believe in again,” he said.

Dignitaries at the meeting include the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Adolphus Wabara, Chairman of the party’s National Zoning Committee and Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri; Governors Ademola Adeleke of Osun state, Peter Mba of Enugu State, represented by his deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai; former Osun Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Bode George; and Monsurat Sunmonu.

Others were 12 of the 17 PDP National Assembly members and key stakeholders of the party from across the southern states.

Politics

2027 Presidency: Idahosa Reiterates Okpebholo’s Promises Of Delivering Edo To Tinubu

Published

3 days ago

August 19, 2025

Editor

Edo State deputy governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa on Tuesday reiterated the promise of Governor Monday Okpebholo of delivering the state to President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.

The deputy said that the just concluded by-elections in the state was an affirmation of that promised made by his principal.

Idahosa stated this in a press statement sogned by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Friday Aghedo, and made available to newsmen.

He said Okpebholo did not just make the promise of delivery the state to the APC, but that Edo will secure 2.5m votes for the President in 2027.

He commended the leadership of the party across Ovia federal constituency for their providing the leadership that made a APC victorious on Saturday.

He, however, noted that there was more room for improvement ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to him, “after the victory, we called the leadership of the Ovia federal constituency to review and evaluate our performance at the poll, to observe areas where we need to work on next time.

“The bye-election was a litmus test for the 2027 presidential election. We are fully ready.”

Idahosa also used the opportunity to sensitize the people on the ongoing continuous voters registration and revalidation process by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He also reeled out measures in place by the party to get new registered members for the exercise when commenced on Monday.

“We are going to constitute subcommittees to mobilize people who have not yet registered to enable us actualize on the promised votes to the president,” he said.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives member elect, Omosede Igbinedion, promised to deliver on her campaign promises to the people.

“Ovia Federal Constituency should expect nothing but the best, in terms of representation and also in terms of developmental strides.

“We will come through, in anything we can do, from the federal level to complement the governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and the tremendous work he is doing at the state.

“Ovia is looking very bright. The deputy governor, Dennis Idahosa, has laid a good foundation we will build upon that foundation,” she said.

Politics

APC Disowns Members Calling For State Secretary’s Resignation

Published

3 days ago

August 19, 2025

Editor

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State has urged members of the public to disregard those calling for the resignation of the state secretary, Engr. Lawrence Okah, saying they are not members of the party.

Recall that a group named Oredo Local Government All Progressives Congress Concerned Group had yesterday, Monday August 18, 2025, during a press conference, called for the resignation of the state secretary of the party over alleged marginalisation.

The group, led by its coordinator, Osamuyi Osadiaye had during the press conference alleged that Okah had arrogated all political positions allocated to Oredo LG to his Ward 7, thereby making the remaining 11 wards in the local government area irrelevant.

But in a swift reaction in a statement made available to INFO DAILY, Osamudiamen Osarenkhoe and Magdalene Isekhure, Oredo APC Chairman and Secretary respectively, alleged that the people behind the call were sponsored by the opposition, insisting that they are not known to the APC in the local government.

The duo, while calling on the general public to disregard the call for the secretary’s resignation, noted that Okah is a “reputable party man who has put everything humanly and constitutionally possible to ensure that APC remains the party to beat in Edo state and Nigeria as a whole.”

The statement partly reads: “The leadership of APC in Oredo Local Government area views the activities of those involved in the illicit campaign as one that is sponsored by opposition political parties.

“Firstly, the group members connected to the media statement coordinated by one Osamuyi Osadiaye are not known members of the APC in Oredo Local Government Area.

“They are impostors and interlopers trying to create trouble in the local government chapter of the APC.

“Members of the public are hereby called upon to disregard the Press statement in its entirety as everything said by the fake APC members are all lies from the pit of hell.”