By Ben Ogbemudia
The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another dramatic turn yesterday as Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, denied abandoning his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike.

Not only did Ortom deny abandoning his hitherto co-traveller in the PDP crisis, but he also insisted that the party’s national chair, Iyorchia Ayu must go.

The Wike camp has been demanding the resignation of Ayu as the way forward to mending the fence and ensuring that the party moves forward in unison in the race to the 2023 general elections, especially the presidential.

Earlier reports yesterday had rolled in that Ortom was siding with his kinsman following an accusation by a group that he was undoing his kinsman.

The report had elicited a response from pro-Wike loyalists led by Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Bode George, who threatened that they were ready to boycott the inauguration of the Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s campaign council, should the Benue governor remain in office.

The drama effectively ends the Wike front’s earlier demand as amplified by George, a former deputy national chair of the party, who gave a deadline of September 28 for Ayu to vacate office.
Ortom’s denial yesterday of dumping Wike effectively paved the way for the party to convene its Presidential Campaign Council (PAC), in line with the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) freeing the campaign space for political parties in the country, ahead of the 2023 elections.

•Twist
The earlier report that Ortom was abandoning Wike came as a surprise to many because the Benue State governor had been perceived as one of the die-hards of Wike’s positions.

Ortom, like Ayu, also hails from Benue State.

Ayu had received tremendous nomination and support from Wike and Ortom before he replaced Uche Secondus as the PDP national chairman in 2021.

Contrary to reports that he was backing Ayu against Wike, Ortom said it was untrue that he had broken away from the camp of his Rivers State counterpart.

Ortom’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Nathaniel Ikyur, had earlier in response to a Benue group, Jemgbagh Development Association, refuted the allegation that his boss has a hand in Ayu’s travails.

However, the Benue governor, while addressing journalists shortly after returning from a London trip alongside Wike yesterday, said his aide’s statement was twisted to sow more seeds of discord between PDP members.
Ortom said, “There is no breaking away from our group (Wike’s camp). I still sympathise with Wike for the injustices meted out on him and our group.”

He added, “I just came back from London this morning with Wike, and I still maintain my stand on what I said. I have not moved away from there. The party leadership has not been fair to Governor Wike, based on the activities that took place during the convention and after the convention.

“They have not been able to adequately deploy the internal conflict resolution mechanism of the party to resolve those issues. So, I still sympathise and stand with Wike and let the leadership of the party at the national level do the right thing. It is not too late to do so.”

According to the Benue governor, “Politics is about interest, and where your interest is not protected, you have the right to protest.”

He stressed: “We remain committed to the PDP, but still want the right thing to be done so that everybody will be carried along.”

Ortom also noted that it is not late to resolve the issues surrounding the PDP crisis, pointing out that, with the interface he had with the BOT of the party, he hoped that issues would be properly addressed.

He maintained, “The issue in contention about the National Chairman, the BOT, was here some few days ago, and we deliberated on the matter. They sought to know what my feeling was about the crisis, and I told them the truth, as far as I am concerned.

“I gave them my recommendations and I hope that justice will be done so that our party will gain its position to take over power in 2023.”

The governor maintained that despite the crisis rocking the party at the national level, Benue State does not have any problem.

He stressed that “from bottom to top, we are good to go, as far as our party is concerned. I am working for our candidates.”

On the outcome of the caucus meeting, the governor said after due consultations, a Benue North-West Senatorial campaign team for the Senate would be constituted, pointing out that it would be integrated into the main campaign council of PDP in Benue State.

•PDP inaugurates presidential campaign council

Meanwhile, the PDP will today inaugurate its Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the commencement of campaigns for the 2023 general election.

The party made this known yesterday in a statement by the National Organizing Secretary, Umar Bature.

The venue of the inauguration according to the statement, is the International Conference Center, Central Area, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

Those invited for the event include the party’s former presidents and vice presidents, governors and former governors, serving and former members of the BoT, serving and former members of the National Assembly, all members of NEC, stakeholders of our party, the International Communities, CSOs and the Media.

•Bode George says group will stay away
But speaking on behalf of the Wike group yesterday, George, who spoke with ThisNigeria via telephone, said they were standing by their earlier resolutions to pull out of the campaign council until Ayu resigns from office.

George said it was worrisome that the party had been converted into a ‘Northern Democratic Party’ by some cabals, who felt they could win elections without their input.

He added that since they ‘changed the PDP to NDP’, the group would also convert its camp to ‘Southern Peoples Party’.

The party chieftain expressed disappointment in the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku, in the way and manner he handled the whole issue.

The former PDP deputy national chairman, George, ex-Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, ex-Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, one-time minister of information, Jerry Gana, and many others, pulled out of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign council until their demands are met.

•Ikpeazu, Nnamani, and others shun Atiku’s South-East meeting

As the drama was playing out at the higher level, anti-Atiku sentiments were playing out in some columns in the party, particularly in the South-East.

Atiku, ahead of a meeting yesterday with the party’s stakeholders in Enugu State, met with a boycott by some key political players in the zone.

The meeting, a continuation of the presidential candidate’s consultation with stakeholders, across the six geo-political zones, apparently did not go well as scheduled.

For one, Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, and some others were conspicuously absent at the meeting with South-East stakeholders of the PDP.

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Ikpeazu, a strong ally of Wike, is among those calling for the resignation of Ayu.

The host, Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was, however, in attendance.

Apart from Ikpeazu, also visibly absent was Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, representing Enugu East senatorial zone.

The former governor had been curiously listed as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

The party has continued to vigorously defend Nnamani’s inclusion on the list, a development that has unsettled PDP members in his home state, Enugu.

At the time Atiku was meeting with PDP stakeholders in Enugu, Nnamani was still showing his admiration for the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, on his social media pages.

He wrote: “He, Tinubu, is my friend, brother, and colleague. I have great respect for him, his political antecedents, and strides in governance. And I am very proud and well pleased with him. Anybody belly-aching should go himself.”

Atiku arrived in Enugu State yesterday for the meeting with party stakeholders in the South-East.

He made this known via a tweet adding that he felt “great” about his arrival.

The Wazirin Adamawa also shared pictures of his arrival, where the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, welcomed him.