Resignation is not the same thing as removal – Wike

Resignation is not the same thing as removal – Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike says there is a world of difference between a move to remove someone from office and a voluntary bid by the same person to resign.

Wike said on a syndicated television interview broadcast on four major networks across Nigeria that party members who were aware of the pledge that  Iyorchia Ayu made were eagerly waiting  for him to step aside.

Encouraging Ayu to tow the path of honour, Wike said nobody put a gun to his head when he wilfully assured Nigerians that he would quit on his own as the national chairman if the table turns against the South.

At a meeting hosted by Governor Mohammed Bello of Bauchi State, Wike revealed that Ayu had offered to resign if a northerner were to emerge as the presidential candidate of the PDP.

Several weeks after that disclosure, the Port Harcourt Telegraph notes that no one, including the Bauchi State Governor, has contradicted Wike’s assertion, meaning there could indeed be an element of truth in the governor’s claim.

Speaking on national television, Wike reiterated that if Ayu genuinely loves the PDP instead of his lust for power and what he could get, he would have since done the needful.

“We agreed, let bygones be bygone”, Wike calmly stated, saying that posture was taken in the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party.

He said the time has come to make sacrifices in the interest of the collectivity, wondering why Ayu who is in the eye of the storm, is finding it difficult to clear from the scene so peace can return to the party.

“It is unfortunate what you find in the system”, Wike said in course of the interview.

But he was however quick to say in reference to what is happening in the party that “no armed robber comes into your house without an insider aiding him.”

     Senator Iyorchia Ayu, what will he do now that Wike has dragged him into the open?

 

“Ayu is very very corrupt”, Governor Nyesom Wike stressed on live television, “he is very very corrupt.”

When reminded that the allegation he was making on television is a very weighty one Wike reminded the interviewers they were “talking to the Governor of Rivers State.”

Wike may have been hinting at the fact that as the governor of such an important state, he probably has access to important information on what goes on.

“I’m an important Governor”, the Rivers Governor stressed, “Will he (Ayu) deny the fact that he collected one billion naira from Lagos?”

Wike emphasized for added measure that,  “That money did not enter the account of the PDP.”

Daring Ayu to deny his allegation, Wike assured Nigerians that he would throw more light on the subject and mention the name of the presidential aspirant who arranged for the alleged payoff if the embattled chairman says his claim is not true.

Should Wike’s allegation be accurate,  the question to ask is, where did the money go?

Only Ayu can well answer the question of the one billion naira that he allegedly received in Lagos.

In the meantime, Nigerians are patiently waiting for Ayu to respond to Wike’s claim that he may have corruptly enriched himself to the tune of one billion naira.

Ayu is currently out of the country, with some saying he is somewhere in Europe monitoring events at home.

“There is nothing happening right now inside the PDP that Ayu does not know”, a top politician (name withheld) disclosed, “he is receiving regular briefs from his friends in the Atiku camp.

“It is possible that Ayu is equally holding Atiku and his associates hostage, given what he knows about the things that transpired. This may explain why Atiku, cornered on all sides, is unable to shake.”

The implication is that the last has not been heard about what some people describe as the Ayu – Wike fued.
London talks: The last meeting which was held between Atiku and Wike camps. Wike insists a promise by Atiku Abubakar to provide a feedback on the way forward after one week was never kept.

 

While Nigerians look towards Ayu and what he is likely to do, Wike who is unafraid of any disciplinary action, particularly from his party, appears ready to say some more.

There are fears that the PDP may be in for trouble if the crisis that is rocking the party is not resolved.

The Punch newspaper which carried a banner headline a day after Wike spoke reported that party leaders are begging Governor Wike to stay calm and forgo the ill-treatment that he has gone through.

“The good thing is that Wike and his associates are insisting that they will not leave the PDP.  It is an open window, in my view, that the party can exploit if only it can do away with ego and a superiority complex that is leading nowhere”, a public analyst said in Port Harcourt.