Wike opposes PDP’s move to retain Ayu as national chairman beyond 2023 elections

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Monday voiced his opposition to the ongoing plan by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to retain Senator Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman till the end of the 2023 general elections.

The PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) had last week asked the former Senate President a firm assurance that he would step down as the party’s national chairman at the end of next year’s elections.

Wike and four other governors – Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) – are pushing for Ayu’s resignation following the emergence of Atiku Abubakar, a Northerner, as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.

Ayu is from Benue, one of the six states in Nigeria’s North-Central.

Wike, who spoke with journalists shortly after his arrival from the United Kingdom, described the opposition party as unserious.

He also slammed the national chairman for reneging on his promises and insisted that he must step down from his position in the interest of fairness and justice.

READ ALSO: PDP: Wike vows to continue push for Ayu’s resignation

The governor said: “In leadership one should always be firm and assertive. You may be right. You may be wrong. Keep to your commitment. A man made a commitment that if a presidential candidate emerges from his zone, he will resign. That’s a commitment. And you have said people should keep to their commitment. Why not tell the man to keep to its commitment?

“On the other leg, you said he should make a commitment that after the election he will step down when he hasn’t abided by the one he made earlier. So it’s leadership. I understand the problem.

“We have played our own role by saying we must continue to tell the truth. What’s so important in a man who has made a commitment not to keep it? And you said he’ll keep a new one. That’s even the worse of it. I am not surprised when people lie. So we’re not serious in anything we’re doing.”

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