The camp of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has commenced the push for a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) amidst the crisis rocking the party.
The push is being facilitated by some allies of Governor Wike within the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) and some state chairmen of the PDP in the South.
The move is part of the plan to force the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu out of office.
This is coming hours after Ayu insisted that nobody can remove him as the chairman of the party.
Ayu stated this while addressing supporters in Gboko, his hometown in Benue during the weekend.
The PDP National Chairman further stated that he can stop any candidate in the party from contesting in 2023 if he decides to act against people attacking him.
Some allies of Governor Wike, prominent chieftains in the party are hatching a fresh plot to unseat him.
There are signs that some governorship candidates of the party might call for the resignation of Ayu and support the plan for a NEC meeting.
A governorship candidate from the southeast who spoke with Vanguard on the development said, “Most of the candidates of the party, especially in the south, are worried about the current developments in the party.
“Like Wike and his people have argued several times, it is unclear how our presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku and Ayu, the National Chairman, want us to sell the PDP to our people in the south.
“What are we to tell our people? How do we tell them to vote for a party that is carrying on as if the south does not matter? These are the challenges we face currently.
“And as candidates who are desirous of winning elections, we can no longer afford to keep quiet on this matter. We have met the gladiators and appealed to them to put the general interest of the party over and above all other interests.
“But it appears no one is interested in our plight. We have resolved to take our fate in our hands by speaking out.”
The Governorship candidate called on Ayu to consider the interest of the party and resign.
He added that the political future of the party should be more important to Ayu than anything else.
The PDP flagbearer said they are ready to support the move for a NEC meeting in search of a resolution to the crisis in the party.
A source disclosed that some members of the NWC who are pleased with Ayu are supporting the call for a NEC meeting as soon as possible.
The source said, “As at the close of work on Friday, we have more than half of the NWC membership on our side. The plan to have a NEC meeting that will revisit the crisis in the party is waxing stronger.
“Soon, it will be difficult for anybody to continue to ignore the dissatisfaction of members of the committee with our National Chairman.
“Many state chapter chairmen are also in support of the decision that we discuss this matter as a family and take a decision while putting the interest of the party over and above all personal and group considerations.”
Another source said, “if he got a vote of confidence and the crisis within the party went from bad to worse, then we must re-examine the issues.
“It is the same people who gave the vote of confidence we are calling on to come and see how far that decision has taken us as a party ahead of the 2023 general elections.”
