The Oasis Reporters

August 12, 2022

Talk about the sins of yesterday catching up with the atonements and appeasements of today. Then you really would begin to understand why the People’s Democratic Party, PDP is in a state of unenviable quandary now.

To be fair to Wike, he won’t be the first to work against the PDP. Atiku worked against the PDP in 2015. Alongside Tinubu, they installed Nigeria’s current problem. So History will justify Wike’s action. AS YOU MAKE YOUR BED?????? pic.twitter.com/ZwuX4PBJmx

— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) August 10, 2022

And the quandary is the enigmatic story of a blockbuster saga, a story that should be the stuff of legendary political Nollywood movies if it ever gets scripted and acted.

PDP misfired by picking Atiku. APC shot themselves in the foot as well. They left the more vibrant Osinbajo, & opted for Tinubu. Nigerians would have been more sympathetic to Yemi. I wanted a Peter Obi Vs Yemi Osinbajo. Nigerians are tired of the old guards. Am I making sense?

— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) August 11, 2022

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, has ruled out the possibility of sanctioning the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, over his outbursts against the party’s leadership and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Ayu noted that rather than discipline anyone, the party would focus on uniting its members. He, therefore, appealed to those angry with Wike to sheathe their sword.

Wike did not run away when PDP was defeated. So many party leaders ran away but Wike started working, sweating, crying & fasting. He went to Legal market, worked so hard. Then the food is done, Una say make him stay for kitchen as a standby CHEF. Ko le work.oooo

— Woye (@woye1) August 8, 2022

The party had been engulfed in internal dispute with many members taking sides with either Atiku or Wike. This was part of the fallout of the party’s presidential primary, which Wike lost to Atiku. The governor was also said to be aggrieved that he was neither chosen as the party’s vice presidential candidate nor consulted on certain issues in the party.



The reported bad blood between Atiku and Wike came to a head when Wike told journalists about a week ago that Atiku told many lies during his interview with Arise TV. He then promised to respond to the lies and speak more about both the party and Atiku.



Meanwhile, speaking at a meeting of the National Working Committee with former National Publicity Secretaries, Zonal/ States Publicity Secretaries, and other stakeholders at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, Ayu said all efforts and resources would rather be channeled towards peace and unity instead of punishing people.

He was responding to calls by some former national officers who called for the governor to be sanctioned. They argued that refusal to do this would breed indiscipline in the party.


But talk about indiscipline in the party, and note that the subject is historical to the 22 year old party starting from when some leaders rebelled against it, insisting that the then sitting president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had no right to run for re-election because it was the turn of the north to complete the late President Musa Yar’adua’s tenure because he was from the north.


They ganged up against their own party, thus causing Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to lose his constitutionally allowed second term.


Leaders of the rebellious faction included Atiku Abubakar, Usman Bugaje, Abubakar Saraki, Dino Melaye, Aminu Tambuwal and quite a few others. They defected to the then opposition party All Progressive Congress (APC), thus making Muhammadu Buhari to defeat Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.


When politics soured in the APC, those that decamped and joined ab initio, came back to the PDP. All were forgiven by Nyesom Wike and the rest members that never for once moved out, staying to rebuild and reposition the party.


The returnees were feted, shown love, and even their leader, Atiku Abubakar got the party’s ticket to contest for the presidency, as the chance for the north it was.
He lost.


Four years later, it has become the turn of the South to run for the presidency. Atiku Abubakar and the former renegades resisted it, insisting that the PDP Constitution must be changed or amended to give them another chance to run for the presidency again.

Flying in the face of the governors of the South who met under Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as convener that the presidency must go to the South

A source at the meeting said, “After the meeting went into a closed-door session, some of the former officers called for sanction to be imposed on Wike because of his utterances. They said he didn’t respect the party’s leadership and its presidential candidate, among other things.

“They even accused the National Publicity Secretary (Debo Ologunagba) of not doing enough to address the issues in his interviews and press releases, but Ayu told them to be patient. The chairman said this is not the time to discipline, expel or quarrel with anyone. Rather, he said this is the time to build, unite and tolerate one another.

“He said he could feel the pulse of those agitating for discipline to be meted out to the governor, but insisted that Wike is a formidable member of the party. He appealed to them to be patient and that the governor would support Atiku and the party.”


Wise words there by the embattled Ayu, who probably put into consideration that those clamouring for disciplinary action to be taken against Wike, committed worse infractions against the party.
And they were forgiven. Then reabsorbed. They were also enthroned and they seem to be redesigning the party to suit their region, possibly ethno religious inclinations and their personal desires.


These and many more factors that may be driving the feelings of Nyesom Wike to act in the way that he is doing.


Additional information from:

Punch
Twitter
In-house editing.

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