Politics
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ilemona Onoja, says the rift between the faction of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and that of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu is not beyond reconciliation.
He also said the party is going ahead with its campaign ahead of the 2023 general elections despite the crisis within the party.
He, however, said the door for reconciliation and negotiation remain open for the governors who have constantly demanded the resignation of Ayu as a precondition to support the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
“I don’t think it (the crisis) is beyond resolution. That door is permanently open and it doesn’t change the fact that the party still appeals to a lot of people, to millions of Nigerians across the country,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.
“It doesn’t change the fact that the party is still campaigning to a lot of people out there across the country and it doesn’t change the fact that the party is still speaking about the sorts of policies that will bring solutions to Nigeria’s problems. You can do that while you constantly leave the door open for reconciliation and negotiation,” Onoja added.
Lamenting that the crisis within the PDP has taken more than necessary time to be resolved and has become a distraction to its presidential campaign, Onoja noted that it is the desire of all party members to see it resolved as soon as possible.
“There is a desire within every member of the PDP to see that situation resolved as quickly as possible. It has taken far too long and to the mind of many of us, it has been a distraction,” he added.
After his defeat at the PDP presidential primary in May, Wike fell out with the party leadership insisting that Ayu resigns as chairman as both presidential candidate and national chairman of the party cannot come from the same region.
Wike’s camp boasts of governors like Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State have sided with their colleague.
-Channels
KN
Tags: Ilemona Onoja Nyesom Wike
