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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.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has confirmed that the representatives of the petitioners seeking to recall the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District have now provided their contact details.
In a statement on Wednesday, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said:
“The contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission.”
He added that INEC has formally notified the senator about the recall petition.
“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address,” Olumekun stated.
He further explained that the same letter had been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website.
Speaking on the next step, Olumekun said INEC would now verify the signatures to ensure that more than 50% of registered voters in Kogi Central signed the petition.
“This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission,” he said.
Olumekun reassured Nigerians that the recall process would be conducted in an open and transparent manner.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, has commended his principal for assenting to South West and South – South Development Commissions Bills as well as the Nigeria Anti – Doping Bill 2025.
Senator Lado who made the commendation in a personally signed statement, described presidential assets to the bills as monumental milestone and testament to visionary leadership and national progress.
The statement reads: “I extend my warmest congratulations to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for yet another historic achievement his decisive and visionary assent to the South-West Development Commission Bill, the South-South Development Commission Bill, and the Nigeria Anti-Doping Bill, 2025.
“These landmark legislations are a clear reflection of President Tinubu’s relentless commitment to inclusive governance, equitable progress, and Nigeria’s emergence as a global powerhouse.
“His Excellency has once again demonstrated that leadership is not merely about policies—it is about impact, legacy, and a deep-rooted dedication to uplifting every citizen.
“By signing into law the establishment of the South-West and South-South Development Commissions, President Tinubu has reaffirmed his role as a transformational leader who prioritizes regional empowerment, economic expansion, and infrastructural excellence.
Building on the foundation of his earlier assent to the South-East and North -West Development Commissions, it is evident that President Tinubu is deliberate in bringing development across all regions.
“These commissions will serve as catalysts for industrial growth, job creation, and social advancement—ensuring that every corner of Nigeria benefits from his administration’s progressive vision. This is the mark of a true statesman—one who understands that a nation’s strength lies in its ability to uplift all regions without bias.
“In the same vein, the Nigeria Anti-Doping Bill, 2025 is yet another bold step that solidifies Nigeria’s commitment to fairness, excellence, and integrity in global sports.
“President Tinubu has once again positioned Nigeria as a nation of high ethical standards, ensuring that our athletes compete on the world stage with honor and credibility. By domesticating the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sports, his administration has safeguarded the future of Nigerian sports, protecting our athletes from unfair practices while reinforcing our global reputation as a country that upholds integrity.
“This momentous occasion underscores President Tinubu’s unmatched leadership—one that is proactive, decisive, and deeply attuned to the needs and aspirations of the Nigerian people.
His ability to enact groundbreaking policies that foster unity, drive economic prosperity, and elevate our international standing speaks volumes of his unwavering dedication to national transformation”.
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BREAKING: Key contact details missing in petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan – INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has acknowledged receiving a petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District but noted that key contact details of the petitioners were missing.
In a press release signed by Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, the commission stated that the petition was submitted with six bags of documents containing signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the district.
However, the covering letter only provided a general location, “Okene, Kogi State,” without a specific address or multiple contact numbers as required by INEC’s regulations.
INEC emphasized that the recall process is guided by the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and its 2024 Regulations and Guidelines for Recall.
The commission assured that once the petition meets all requirements, it will proceed with verifying the signatures using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in an open process involving petitioners, observers, and the media.
INEC is currently making efforts to reach the petitioners through other means and urged the public to disregard speculation on social media regarding the recall process.
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