Wike Rejects Jibrin’s Resignation, Insists Ayu Must Step Down

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Thursday insisted that Iyorchia Ayu must step down as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.

When Atiku Abubakar won the PDP presidential primary in May, Wike said that Atiku personally informed him that Ayu had to resign as the party’s chairman.

“When we finished our convention on a Saturday to Sunday, the candidate of the party (Atiku) came to see me in my house in Abuja on Monday around 10:30am…The candidate told me: ‘I want us to work together’ and then he said, ‘Look, Ayu must go’.

“I said why? He said because when a candidate comes from the north, the chairman will come from the south. And I am saying, implement what you told me. What offence have I committed? It has nothing to do with Wike; it has to do with integrity.

“I challenge the presidential candidate to deny this. If he denies this, I will go further to say so many things to Nigerians because enough is enough,” the governor said on Thursday during the commissioning of the Ahoada Campus of the Rivers State University in the Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state.

Wike was at the occasion alongside his ally, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.

The governor said the resignation of Walid Jibril as the Board of Trustees chairman won’t stop his demand for Ayu’s removal. “This fight we will fight it to the end,” he said.

According to Wike, the issue at hand is that of justice and fairness, saying having produced the presidential candidate of the party, the north should not also hold on to the chairmanship of the party.

The governor said,
“Some of you don’t know what is happening. You are being deceived; they are telling you Wike is causing problem. Wike is not causing problem; Wike is bringing peace to the country. Wike is advocating for justice, Wike is advocating for equity, and Wike is advocating for fairness.

“We have finished with presidential primary. It is over and it is over. So, when people say, ‘You want to destroy the party because you didn’t win the primary’, I think they are sick, they have some mental problem.”