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Wike/Atiku feud: PDP is in shambles – Ortom
Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom has stated that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is distressed over its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike feud.
The governor said, this was not the best of times for the party, stating that he cannot pretend to say all was well for the PDP.
Speaking through a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr Nathaniel Ikyu on Monday, Ortom lashed at the party leadership for not resolving the crisis on time, until it snowball into an unmanageable level.
Ortom noted that the existing internal conflict resolution mechanism to resolve the dispute over the continued stay in office of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as PDP National Chairman was not put into use, a development he stressed created camps within the opposition party.
According to him, the leadership of the party has been dithered.
The governor was reacting to the development in the party even as Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike had rejected the resignation of PDP’s Board of Trustees Chairman (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin last Thursday.
Wike said, the rejection of BoT Chairman is a condition for reconciliation in the party.
The BoT Chairman, CAPITAL POST was told, resigned out of frustration occasioned by the endless crisis between Nyesom Wike and the 2023 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
As Wike insists on the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as Chairman of PDP, the party went ahead to pass a vote of confidence on him on September 7, a development that protracted the crisis as Ayu cannot be seen to be resigning from his position anytime soon.
Reacting to the confidence vote on Ayu, Rivers State governor declared that Ayu cannot survive despite.
Ortom who is an ally of Nyesom Wike blamed the PDP national leadership for lacking reconciliation mechanism, which gave opportunity for the crisis to fester for too long.
He said: “There are certain internal mechanisms that should apply to conflict resolution within the party.
“Some of these instruments should have been deployed long ago.”
Ortom urged further dialogue between the Atiku and Wike camps, adding that discussions were still ongoing among various stakeholders to resolve the crisis.
“Discussions are going at different levels away from the public eye, to ensure unity and oneness of purpose in the PDP, with eyes on 2023.
“I am very interested in ensuring that we discuss. I want us to have a win-win situation so that people will feel they have been carried along.”
Ortom said regardless of its present challenges, the PDP will reinvent itself in good time to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election.
He said the camp of the Rivers State governor was still open to discussions, adding that there were substantive issues to be thrashed out within the PDP.
Expressing optimism that the PDP will “cross the Rubicon”, Ortom however, said all was not well with the party at the moment.
He said: “I will not say that all is well with our party. The good thing is that we recognise the issues and we have generated dialogue in various ways.
“Engagement is what I have always encouraged. Everybody cannot be winning all the time.”
The governor stressed the need for the opposition party to unite ahead of the 2023 election to be in good stead to defeat the APC, stating that it remained a viable alternative.
He described the performance of the ruling party in the past seven years as “dismal and abysmal”.
According to him, the PDP now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Benue House of Assembly.
He also explained that the blockage of access informed his media attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “We applied for a bailout of N42 Billion from the Federal Government to enable us to offset longstanding arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities.
“Some of these people scrambled to the State House to tell the President not to release the funds even after approval so that we will not take the credit for solving the age-long problem. This is the kind of mean-spirited attitude APC is inflicting on our people.”
The governor accused some unnamed APC leaders of denying him access to President Buhari for almost two years now.
He said that was the reason he has been channelling his messages to President Buhari through the media, although he would have preferred discussing with the President one-on-one.
“It is the very same people who have ensured my inaccessibility to the President. I said it before. It is now almost two years since I last saw the President. If I had access to him, I will prefer a one-on-one exchange with him.
“Since that is not possible, I go to the press. I must talk, I must express myself. I am holding this office in trust for several million people of Benue State. I am not here of my own volition.”
Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Jibrin Isah Echocho, has congratulated Muslim faithful for the successful completion of this year Ramadan fast, urging them to celebrate the Sallah in love, and unity across our communities.
Echocho in a statement madeavailable to CAPITALPOST in Lokoja o Sunday, described the Ramadan period as stressful, but deserving, because it is the only period for spiritual reflection on abstinence from immorality, sincere sacrifice and supplications to Allah.
He added that, Ramadan symbolises Allah’s way of teaching humanity on virtuous living, where people keep away from all forms of comfort to appreciate what the less privileged experience and deprivation they suffers daily.
He task Muslims to extend the lessons of Ramadan to the way we live with our neighbours.
“Let’s seek peace at all times and promote unity of purpose in our society” the Lawmaker demanded.
“May the celebration brings sustainable peace to our homes, my district, Kogi State and Nigeria, he concluded.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has commended Senator Basheer Lado, for redefining the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, stating that, for the first time in a long while, the office is fully meeting its expectations.
Speaking during his visit to the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters accompanied by distinguished senators, Akpabio described the visit as a significant step in strengthening Executive-Legislative relations.
He praised the Special Adviser and his team for maintaining the confidentiality of communications between the President and Senate, and also, ensuring a seamless flow of information. He further emphasized that the office is now more result-oriented.
Additionally, he acknowledged the office’s diligent efforts in tracking all Bills passed by the Senate and assented to by the President, underscoring its critical role in legislative efficiency.
Expressing his satisfaction, Akpabio noted that he and the Senate delegation were proud of the office’s achievements and looked forward to sustaining the existing cordial and productive relationship between the Executive and the Legislature throughout the administration.
In recognition of his exemplary leadership, Senator Lado presented an Award of Excellence to Senator Akpabio.
In his remarks, Senator Lado reaffirmed his commitment to fostering a harmonious working relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. He lauded Akpabio for his unwavering dedication to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda—defending it with clarity, articulating it with passion, and advancing it through legislative action.
Ahead of the 2025 political party Congresses, Plateau State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP) stakeholders has endorsed the defection of the candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections and the leader of Justice and Rebirth, Barr Gyang Zi SAN, to the All Progressive Congress (APC) with the view to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
They made the call in a communique issued at the end of the enlarge meeting of the stakeholders from Plateau North senatorial zone at the residence of Barr. Gyang Zi in Rayfield Jos.
The communique which was jointly signed by Dr. Ayiki Sati Director General, Justice and Rebirth and
Barr. Samuel Galadima- 2024 Chairmanship candidate of Jos East LGA among others said the call became imperative on the sideline of the leadership tussle at the National Level which violates the core principles and values for the formation of the Party as an alternative for Nigeria for the protection, sustenance of democracy and Social Justice.
They regretted that the leadership tussle has also divided the party into factions leaving party loyalists and supporters in the state of despondency and confusion not knowing where they belong.
Our correspondent reports that the gathering included LP candidates from the 2023/2024 general elections, party executives, and support groups from the six local government areas of the Northern Senatorial District.
Besides, the focus of the discussions was centered on the state of the Labour Party at both national and state levels and the need for political realignment ahead of the 2025 party congresses and conventions.
The stakeholders further frowned at the structural weaknesses in LP and resolved to advise Barr Gyang Zi, to leave the party and join the APC while expressing confidence that the APC would provide him with a platform to advance good governance in the state .
The communique also emphasized the importance of political consultations, particularly with APC leaders at both state and national levels. It called for collaboration with Plateau State APC leaders, including Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, Sen. Simon Bako Lalong, Sen. Diket Plang, and other party officials.
According to the communique, supporters of Barr Gyang Zi also pledged to mobilize grassroots support for the APC, stating that their leader’s defection would strengthen the party in the state.
They urged the APC leadership to formally receive Gyang Zi and his supporters into the party, marking their official transition from the Labour Party.
Stakeholders also reiterated the need for inclusive governance, ensuring that youths, women, and less privileged individuals are sidelined in the democratic process and accordingly officially denounced their membership in the Labour Party, declaring their support for the APC.
They assured that all LP structures aligned with Gyang Zi would follow suit, shifting their loyalty to the ruling party in the state and at the National level.
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