Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Walid Jibrin
Wike right on ‘unfair’ party offices, admits PDP BoT chairman, Jibrin
Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Walid Jibrin, has admitted that it is unfair for the main opposition party to have northerners occupy all three key offices of the party, including his own.
The PDP chieftain further offered to step down from his position as BoT chairman ‘if necessary, for peace to reign in the party.’
Jibrin’s admittance supports the position earlier canvassed by another chieftain of the party and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who berated the PDP for allowing the ‘unfair’ situation to continue.
Speaking as guest on ‘Sunday Politics,’ a programme on Channels Television, Jibrin noted that the PDP currently has its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; National Chairman, Iyirchia Ayu; and himself the Chairman of the BoT, all from the North, as he admitted that it is fair.
According to him, ‘it’s unfair for the party’s presidential candidate and national chairman to hail from the same region.’
Jibrin disclosed that the National Councl, BoT and the National Executive Committee of the party are yet to schedule their meetings ‘because they are awaiting the recommendation of the committees set up to reconcile the aggrieved members.’
“To tell the truth, it will not be fair for the president of Nigeria to be from the north, the chairman of the party from the north and the BoT chairman from the north.
“By next week we will get the report. And when we find out that somebody is wrong in what has happened we will come up openly to tell the party that it is wrong. Whatever we can do, we will do it in the interest of the party to make the party remain as PDP.
“If necessary, he will give up his position as the BoT chairman for peace to reign in the party,” the party chieftain said.
It would be recalled that the Rivers State Governor, and former Presidential aspirant for the 2023 ticket, Nyesom Wike, has continued to demand the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Ayu as condition to embrace peace within the party which has been rocked by squabbles since the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 general Elections.
According to Wike, the party’s national chairman and presidential candidate cannot come from the same region, which he described as an anomaly, and ‘total disregard of the constitution of the party.’
The disagreement has been at the base of the lingering crisis rocking the PDP, as the Rivers Governor has threatened to withdraw support for the party’s presidential candidate, warning that ‘votes of Rivers people will count in 2023.’
However, till date, all reconciliatory efforts by the party to get Wike to settle his rift with Atijku has failed as it threatens to wreck the cjances of the PDP at the 2023 polls, considering the huge backing Wike commands in the party, having finished a close second in the party’s presidential primary election in Abuja.
