Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, who contested the May presidential primaries of the PDP, has thrown his weight behind the incumbent PDP Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in the crisis rocking the party.
BASIC FACTS
- Sam Ohuabunwa, an ex-presidential aspirant under PDP has backed Nyesom Wike of Rivers State in the PDP crisis
- Ohuabunwa says Wike and his group are simply seeking justice and equity in the party
- The Rivers State governor and some chieftains in the party has been a fight with the party leadership for proper representation for the southern flank in the power hierarchy in PDP.
WHAT WE KNOW
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former Presidential aspirant at the last party primaries last May, Sam Ohuabunwa, has said that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is only seeking justice and equity, and not trying to destabilise the party.
Mr Ohuabunwa stated this when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, a program that was monitored by Clariform.
The PDP is yet to recover from the crisis it’s last primaries and choice of running mate created.
Governor Wike, like Ohuabunwa, contested against Atiku Abubakar in the last party primaries, where both men and many others lost to was a presidential aspirant of the PDP. He lost to Nigeria’s former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar.
Angered by the primary election and running mate, Governor Nyesom Wike, who accused the party of betraying him and breaching its constitution, has been calling for the resignation of party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu on the ground that he is from the North like Atiku Abubakar.
Observers and supporters of the PDP, had thought that last week National Executive Council(NEC) meeting of the party held last week would have resolved the crisis.
However, rather having Ayu resign, it was the BOT Chairman, another Northern from Nasarawa that resigned.
BOT Chairman, Walid Jibrin, resignation and replacement by Abia State Sen. Adolpus Wabara, did not go well with the Wike’s camp, as they argued that BOT was an advisory body, unlike the party chairman that makes decision.
However, Sam Ohuabunwa, inspite of his position on the crisis, said he is in talk with both Atiku and Wike to resolve the crisis. Sam Ohuabunwa, also urged the national leadership of the party to show “empathy” and heed the governor’s demand, as it is a call for justice.
The former presidential aspirant, who disagree with the notion that Wike’s discussion with Presidential candidates of other parties could lead to defection, is optimistic that the crisis would be resolved as soon as the party leadership shows “empathy and understanding” in the matter.
NOTABLE QUOTE
Sam Ohuabunwa at the TV programme said, “The truth is that Mr Wike is not crying wolves. He is demanding justice. He is demanding equity. And that is right for him to do,” he said.
“Why is everybody going to Mr Wike? It shows that he has a moral right in this matter. There is something that all of us understood has been done wrongly and that’s why all the emissaries are going to him,”
“I don’t think Mr Wike is impossible to deal with. He has shown that he is a team player when the team is a reasonable team,”
“I think that the party has finally come to understand the enormity of the crisis. The party seems to have woken up to the need not to allow this internal disagreement become a major albatross to its chances of winning elections,”
“For me, it (the meetings with opposition parties) is a way of advertising our party and I believe that those APC and other party leaders that are going there (Rivers State) is a way of sanctioning and endorsing the kind of quality leaders and performances that PDP has and Mr Wike is a poster boy in that regard,” Ohuabunwa added.
CATCH-UP
The PDP crisis is like a bad wound that refuse to heal, has fester on since May.
The Party’s best chance at resolving the crisis was the NEC meeting days back. However, the party, fell short of resolving the thorny issues, hence further risking dragging the matter into February.
TAKEAWAY
The Wike’s camp is not lacking support from well placed members of the party.
If there is anything this crisis has done, it has exposed the PDP, the incumbent party executives and her presidential candidate as poor in crisis management and conflict resolution.
If the party finds it difficult to manage internal party crisis, how will it manage a more complex national conflict that will of necessity arise in governance and national politics?
