By Olusegun Olanrewaju (Lagos) and Ben Ogbemudia (Abuja)
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday kicked off its 2023 campaigns on a very wobbly note with five prominent governors absent in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the venue.

Also yesterday, a leading chieftain of the party, Bode George, sent a strong message on the crisis rocking the leading opposition party in the country, with a loud condemnation of the attitude of the party flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, over alleged disregard for the demand of the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike’s camp for the resignation of national party chair, Iyorchia Ayu.

Apart from the five (G-5) governors absent at the ceremony, one of the dissenters, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, strongly accused the embattled party chair, Ayu, of embarking on a smear campaign.

The five PDP governors absent at the commencement of the campaign, held at the Nests of Champion International Stadium, Uyo, the state capital, including the governors of Rivers, Benue, Oyo, Abia, and Enugu states; Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Seyi Makinde, Okezie Ikpaezu, and Enugu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

The boycotting governors, observers say, could have been making good their threat not to participate in the campaign until the party chair, Ayu, is removed from office over an alleged imbalance in North-South basis of sharing of offices reportedly skewed in favour of the North.

They were also not happy with the politics trailing Wike’s loss in the presidential convention of the party that threw up Atiku, a candidate from the North, as a likely successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, another northerner.

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*The ceremony

The PDP governors who attended the campaign flag-off ceremony included the vice-presidential candidate and governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, host Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto).

Launching the campaign yesterday, Atiku promised to rescue Nigeria from insecurity and the bad economy, as well as unite the northern and southern parts of the country.

Atiku said, “We dedicate the launching of this campaign to the achievements of the Akwa Ibom PDP in good governance.

“Having said that, when PDP came into power in 1999, we met Nigeria in a state of insecurity, hunger, and lack of education. We lifted Nigeria from the bottom to the top.”

The PDP’s campaign flag-off comes barely four months before the February 25 presidential election.

Atiku appealed to Akwa Ibom people and all Nigerians to vote for the PDP to restore unity, salvage the economy, and ensure the security of the nation.

He said Nigeria’s economy was better under the PDP and urged voters to return the party to power.

“Today, we are inaugurating our campaign to rescue Nigeria from poverty, insecurity, and bad governance. Therefore, I urge you to vote for the PDP.

“When you vote for PDP there will be no more hunger and insecurity. If you vote for the PDP there will be unity in Nigeria,’’ Abubakar said.

Also addressing the rally, the national chair, Ayu, thanked Nigerians for turning out for the flag-off of the campaign.

Ayu said PDP’s campaign train was leaving the station slowly to enable those who were yet to get on board to join the train.

He said Nigerians were anxiously waiting for PDP to return to power to rescue the country and restore the economy.

“We will restore the economy and there will be jobs for the teeming youths of this country; we need your support to restore the country. PDP will not disappoint you,’’ Ayu said.

In his welcome remarks earlier, Akwa Ibom State governor, Emmanuel, said that the PDP’s presidential candidate can unite the country.

Emmanuel, also the Chairman of the PDP Campaign Council, said that the campaign was to revitalise Nigeria and restore hope to the country.

He urged Nigerians to support the presidential candidate of the PDP to eradicate poverty; hunger and insecurity from the country come 2023.

“Today, we flag off the campaign to bring hope to Nigerians. All Nigerians are expected to join the movement to rescue the country. Nigeria is a great country.

“We call on all Nigerians to join hands and build Nigeria and bring the country back. We need the president who knows the solution to our problems,’’ Emmanuel said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highpoint of the campaign was the handing over of the PDP flag to Abubakar by Ayu.

*Ortom accuses Ayu of smear campaign

Meanwhile, one of the dissenting governors, Samuel Ortom, has accused the party’s national chairman, Ayu, of a smear campaign.

Ortom had launched his verbal assault on Sunday, when he appeared before the kinsmen of the embattled National Chairman who are members of the PDP, known as the Jemgbagh PDP Elders Forum comprising leaders from Gboko, Tarka, and Buruku local government areas (LGAs).

He stated that Ayu’s smear campaign was in response to the agitation for his resignation after the emergence of Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.

The meeting had been requested by the elders who wished to clarify the cold war between the governor and Ayu following calls by the G-5 governors led by the Rivers State governor, Wike.

Other notable leaders of the party had also insisted that the national chairman should resign, according to a statement released in Makurdi by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Nathaniel Ikyur.

The governor refuted claims that he was toppling a Jemgbagh son by detailing the events that led to the current crisis and highlighting how, against all the odds, he managed to mobilise support for Ayu’s election.

He claimed that because he was supporting justice and fairness and his call for Ayu, who is from the same senatorial zone as him, to retire, he was being threatened and blackmailed because of his desire to become a senator.

He stressed, “Ayu himself committed to resigning should a northern presidential candidate emerge at the northern caucus of the party at the Bauchi State lodge.”

The governor insisted that despite the betrayals, intimidation, and blackmail, he would continue to fight for justice for his people and instructed the Jemgbagh stakeholders to invite both Ayu and himself to a meeting so that they could both explain their viewpoints on the topic.

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*Disregard us at your peril, Bode George tells Atiku

Despite the fanfare that went with the launch, a member of the party’s BoT, Bode George, yesterday condemned the attitude of the party’s flag bearer, Atiku’s ‘disregard’ for their demand.

George said they would not cave into any intimidation and blackmail of Atiku’s loyalists adding that the presidential candidate’s action to ignore them “will be at his peril”.

He said if they believe that those who are demanding for Ayu to honour his words are not important now that the campaign has commenced, “the result in 2023 will prove that they have worked in vanity.”

The BoT member told one of our correspondents, “The issue at stake is not our matter, but the demand of our people. Since Iyorchia Ayu has refused to honour his words and he is seriously being backed up by the presidential candidate, no problem. We will see at the end of the game.

“Atiku is ignoring us at his peril. All the jamborees in Uyo will amount to vanity in 2023.

“How they will win South-West, South-South, and South, we will know. Unless they listen to our demands, we will be looking at them. And very soon, we will also take a final decision on the way forward.”

A dissatisfied George darted, “It is disheartening that a man who couldn’t unify his immediate family, wants to rule over Nigeria. How is it possible? They are all joking. Very soon, it will be done on them. Our founding fathers of this party didn’t behave like this. Atiku feels he can do it with those liars around him. No ‘wahala’.”

Also speaking with ThisNigeria, the National Vice Chairman of the party, South-South, Dan Orbih, simply said he was not having any business in Uyo.

“I am not aware of anything happening in Uyo, anyway, I am in my house.”

Other notable leaders of the party who were absent at the Uyo launch are a National Vice Chair, Taofeek Arapaja, former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, and another top chieftain, Dan Orbih, among others