* Nobody can break our ranks, Rivers gov vows
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Delta North senatorial candidate, Prince Ned Nwoko, has described Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, as a nuisance who has done much damage to the party.
Nwoko, while speaking with reporters in Asaba, Delta State, frowned that Wike is being treated with levity by the PDP hierarchy, adding that he should be shown the way out of the party.
He said: “Wike is a nuisance, quote me anywhere. If I were the leader of the party, I would have acted differently. I would have done things differently. He has done a lot of damage to the PDP and I don’t know what they are waiting for to show him the way out.”
Meanwhile, the five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors demanding the resignation of National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu have declared that nobody can break their ranks.
They reiterated their position during a visit to Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, who flagged off his senatorial campaign on Monday.
The G5 members are insisting on Ayu’s resignation as they believe it is unjust for the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the National Chairman to come from the same region – North.
The five governors – Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Ortom – insisted that there was an agreement that Ayu would resign if a northerner emerged as the presidential candidate.
Wike spoke at the new Banquet Hall of Benue State Government House, Makurdi, during a dinner organised in honour of the G5 by Ortom on Sunday night.
He said: “Those efforts are failing because the five governors are bonded to save Nigeria. People have tried to see how they can break us, but you cannot. We are bonded to save Nigeria.
“That is why when you see all of us, we are impenetrable. Nobody can divide us. They have tried everything in this world to divide us, but no way.
“The way we operate; I will talk. We have people who don’t talk. You may be underrating them. By the time they will shock you, you will think it is Wike, it is not Wike you are seeing.”
Wike believes inclusivity would allow everybody to have an equal sense of stake in the party and to work for victory.
He said: “Agreement is agreement. Respect agreement, so that there will be peace and unity. What we are asking for is inclusivity; include everybody.”
Ortom noted that Wike, an Eagle of Tiv land, stood by them and spoke truth to power when bandits killed Benue people.
He said: “Many have wondered why I have chosen to swim with Governor Wike. Many have wondered why I have chosen to work with him in darkness and in the midst of storms and threats and also trial and brimstone.
“This is a man who stood with us during our trying times and came out, did not fear the threats of the Federal government or federal might, but came out and said ‘look, if you kill Ortom, you have killed Nigeria.”
Ortom said the Rivers governor was not against Ayu as a person, but was only demanding equity and justice in the PDP.
He said: “I was the chairman of the zoning committee. It was agreed in that meeting that since people had bought forms, let us allow everybody to contest, but that once a presidential candidate comes from the North, the chairman will go to the South. That was the arrangement.
“I want you to know that Governor Wike is not against Benue State. He is not against the National Chairman being from here (Benue) because he is a title holder from Benue State.
“He (Wike) is not against it, but he just standing for the truth. Agreement is agreement and it is important we keep to the agreement. If you don’t keep to agreement, then, you are creating problems.”
Ortom said Wike donated N700million to Benue State following market fire outbreaks and for internally displaced persons.
He said the Rivers governor also got his Akwa Ibom and Taraba State counterparts to donate N200 million and N100 million to the IDPs.
He thanked the governors for their support and conferred on them ‘Honorary Citizens of Benue State’.