Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and PDP logo.
A stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Olaka Wogu, has declared that any attempt to sanction Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and four other governors would spell doom for the party.
Wogu, a close ally of the River State governor, said any move to punish Wike, Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwanyi (Enugu) would end the opposition party.
He was reacting to a statement credited to the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, that the party will probe Wike’s political activities in recent weeks.
In an interview with The Punch on Saturday, Wogu said any attempt to sanction Wike and his colleagues would be resisted by all means.
He said, “Anybody who is not satisfied with the current problem faced in the party and decides he will escalate it by going to suspend or bring sanctions to bear on all of these governors would meet fire beyond their expectation.
“He would simply have completely buried PDP; it is not possible to do that and an attempt to do that would simply be the end because what you are telling these governors now is if they say they would not leave PDP, you want them to leave PDP, and fight PDP. I think that will be the end of any aspiration to govern by PDP.
“I am not sure if anybody is contemplating it, thinking about it. I think that’s the worst that the devil can do for the party. That somebody will put in their head now and suspend five governors when you are looking for votes; even a military government will not have such a thought not to talk of Atiku.”
Speaking on the decision of the BoT to allow the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to continue to stay in the office does not placate Wike’s demand for the resignation of Ayu.
He described the continuous stay of Ayu in office as illegitimate, insisting that his immediate resignation would resolve the crisis facing the party.
he said, “The decision of the BoT is nothing new. It’s just a reflection and a re-assertion of Atiku’s position. Atiku’s position has always been that Ayu will go after the elections. Initially, Atiku said Ayu will go within a time frame, later he said Ayu can resign on his own. But the BoT indicates that Ayu should go after the election because some argued that it could be disruptive to party unity for Ayu to go now.
“However, the WIke group has said there are pre-election matters; there are fundamental balances that cannot wait till after elections, they are cardinal to the ticket we present. It’s fundamental to our party to show unity, and diversity by ensuring that the blocs of power are where they should be. If you don’t do the right thing later, do it now and show that you are capable of doing it.
“The Wike group does not understand the impediment; Ayu himself said he will go, he recognised before the primaries that it’s an unsustainable situation to put offices in one place. Now, our group is also trying to let everybody know, this is not about ethnicity, it is not about north vs south, south vs north.
“This is about putting the PDP as we want Nigerians to see it. A ruling national party that serves every part of the country and it’s sensitive to our inclusion, it agrees and understands at all times that we must be an inclusive Nigeria.’’
