From Ken Abu

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Friday October 14th in a media chat at the Government House in Port Harcourt raised some alleged atrocities against the embattled National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
He accused Ayu, whose uncanny response since his alleged claims of dishonesty, collecting one billion Naira from an undisclosed presidential aspirant in Lagos State without remittance to the national treasury of the party has further deepened the crisis rocking the party, with the 2023 general elections gaining momentum in full swing.
Expectedly, Governor Wike in his usual rhetoric words accused Ayu of receiving 100 million naira from an undisclosed governor, with the sole intent to deploy the money for renovating project while also turning around to collect some money from the National Working Committee of the People’s Democratic party for the same purpose.
The rationale behind his motive to receive double payment of the money earmarked for a single renovation work, according to Wike whose stand on Ayu’s removal is unshaken, is likened to his self-serving posture of a man who completely lacks integrity, which according to governor Wike, he has brazenly demonstrated in recent times as the party Chairman.
when he was unable to defend and account for the 1 billion Naira he collected from an unnamed presidential Candidate from Lagos State before the May 31st Convention of the PDP primaries, which he manipulated in favor of a preferred candidate from the North to the detriment of Governor Wike’s presidential ambition.
Wike in an interview, with The PUNCH Newspaper on October 14th, 2022, said “Let Ayu say he did not collect 1billion Naira. In fact, let me tell you, Ayu collected 100million naira from a governor that he was going to renovate our democratic institution and then he went back to the PDP NWC and took 100 million Naira for the same work.

“What kind of a system is that; I am telling you all these facts. Let him (Ayu) say no first and I will tell you those he collected the money from.
“He is not a man of integrity. And I have realized that people find it hard to have that integrity. lately, you are presenting a man (Ayu) who lacked integrity as Chairman of party and somebody that wants to lead a campaign to the reins of government “.
Wike, Ayu’s blatant refusal to explain the whereabouts of monies realized from electioneering activities in Ekiti governorship elections and sales of PDP forms amounting to the tune of over 14 billion Naira was another of his many atrocities which continue to call to question the integrity of the man (Ayu) leading the campaign to disrupt the electorates desperately yearning for a change in government after all the failed promises of the current administration to give their support to the party’s flag bearer candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar .
It is widely believed that many crisis rocking the party has been a direct fallout from the active roles of the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in collaboration with some Northern cabals in deliberately frustrating the zoning arrangement of the party, which ordinarily required the South to produce its next presidential candidate was the main factor driving Governor Wike’s desire to remove the embattled National Chairman from his office as the only precondition for peace to reign in the party, arguing that it was no longer attractive and honorable for him to continue to lead the party into the campaign activities as he had already lost the respect and integrity of members owing to his style of politics.
Wike has on several occasions insisted that the resignation of Ayu from his position as a National Chairman of PDP is not negotiable as the only condition for reconciliation of all the aggrieved members in the party.
According to him, nobody could convince him to abandon his request of his group that the party should yield the National Chairmanship position to the South in order to prove to the teeming populace that the party promotes and respects the principle of equity, fairness and justice in its system.

Responding to the issues of monies returned by NWC members reported in Legit.ng on October 15th, Wike said the monies returned were not authorized by the leadership of the party insisting payment of the money to members of the NWC was done with an ulterior motive.
According to legit.ng, Wike replied saying “Of course, let me tell you how the money came about. When it was discussed at the NWC, Ayu said everybody should calm down that Nigerians are interested and that Nigerians will bring money to the party.”
With no end in sight to the lingering crisis between the Governor Wike’s Ayu-must-go group and the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party PDP Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar, the embattled Chairman leading the campaign for massive votes from the electorates in the forthcoming general elections in 2023, the question curiously agitating the minds of many people would be that, How does the party hope to wrestle power from the ruling APC as it is barely able to separate itself from the main issues that predates party primary activities executed in bad faith to silence the vociferous voice of one man before the election in February 2023?
Recall that governor Wike during the media chat alluded to the fact that the sincere efforts of his group towards a peaceful and amicable resolution of the crisis rocking the party was being frustrated by those he called rent seekers in the party.

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