The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) has failed to resolve the rift between the party’s presidential
candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike.
Rather, members of the Board, during a meeting at the
Abuja PDP national secretariat, resolved to set up a committee to take up the
task.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the
BoT chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin said all members of the BoT are members of
the committee.
However, snippets at the meeting indicated that the BoT
had dismissed the demand by Wike camp that the PDP National Chairman, Dr
Iyorchia Ayu must step aside.
The Governor’s camp had premised its demand on
an agreement said to have been reached earlier, that Ayu will step aside if a
Northerner emerged the PDP presidential candidate.
Party stakeholders were said to have agreed that the
Deputy National Chairman (South) will take the chairmanship seat to replace Ayu
who is from the North Central zone.
Most PDP chieftains who identified with Wike’s
presidential aspiration did not attend yesterday’s meeting.
A few of them who attended were said to have
drawn the attention of the meeting to the fact that the presidential ticket and
two key leadership positions are being held by the North.
“The presidential ticket holder, the national
chairman and BoT chairman are all from the North. Atiku is from Northeast, Ayu
is from North Central and the BoT chair is also from North Central,” one of
them was quoted to have said.
Addressing journalists after the meeting, a
former Senator, Abdul Ningi, admitted that the rift between Atiku and Wike
remained unresolved.
“We discussed the crisis between our
presidential candidate and Governor Nyesom Wike. In getting it resolved, we set
up a committee of the whole to urgently interface with the two of them.
“We have set up in this meeting committee of
the BoT to be able to interface between warring factions, particularly the
acrimony that is taking place between the presidential candidate and governor
Wike and any other conflict that is taking place in the nation within our party
formation.
“The committee is the committee of the whole;
that means every BoT member is a member of the committee. I cannot tell you the
grievances and the time frame.
“On Ayu stepping down, we have not even
discussed any issue of anybody stepping down. What we discussed is what I have
told you,” Ningi said.
Ningi however, said there was no time frame
for the committee to conclude its assignment and submit a report.
