By Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
Governor Wike of Rivers and the PDP politicians including PDP governors loyal to him had a meeting yesterday at the Rivers state governors’ lodge.
One of the resolutions taken at the meeting which Prof. Jerry Gana, the spokesman of Wike’s faction of the PDP, did not share with the press after the meeting is that for Wike’s camp to support Atiku, then the National Chairman of the PDP, Ayu, has to go.
That is a strong condition for Wike’s camp to support Atiku.
Let me digress.
At the beginning of last year, the same Wike was in a running battle with the former chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus.
Secondus’s only crime was that he switched camps to Atiku’s camp, having come a long with my good man at Intels.
Wike was infuriated and started baying for the blood of Secondus on a platter.
His anger was not farfetched.
He single-handedly made Secondus the PDP Chairman as he marched past any opposition that tried to stand in his way.
He expected 100% loyalty from Secondus as PDP chairman, but unfortunately, that was not so.
Wike noticed that Secondus was not loyal to him when the former PDP chairman stopped carrying out his instructions.
One of them was to install his loyalist as PDP minority leader in the House of Representatives.
His directive did not see the light of the day, but Ndudi Elemelu emerged as the PDP minority leader.
Rather than to obey who made him chairman, Secondus was now obeying the instructions of Atiku as Atiku is fully in control of the National Working Committee of the party.
This did not go down with the powerful power broker from Rivers state as he felt betrayed.
Wike had an ambition to be president and he knew that the ambition could not be achieved with Secondus and the NWC of his party loyal to Waziri.
Just like he is doing at the moment, Wike started baying for the blood of Secondus.
Secondus must go or the PDP will collapse.
He went as far as insulting Secondus in public, a man that is older than him and who was PDP chairman in Rivers State when Wike was just an ordinary local government chairman of Obiakpor local government.
The height of Wike’s insult and insolence against his former chairman was at the birthday of the former governor of Cross River, Liyel Imoke.
Wike called his former unprintable names because the former chairman was not loyal to him again.
To appease Wike, the PDP came together and agreed that Secondus must leave for just not committing any offence rather to appease furious Wike.
Governor Ortom of Benue and Wike’s PA, woke up one morning and remembered that Senator Ayu, a former senator during the 3rd republic and a PDP chieftain, was from his state.
He thought about this: Ayu would be a good replacement for the embattled Secondus, so he took Ayu to his master Wike for his blessing and anointing.
After anointing Ayu with Goya olive oil, Senator Ayu was presented to the PDP governor caucus, where Wike railroaded other PDP governors to endorse his anointed candidate.
But here is the thing: Ortom did not do his home work well before presenting Senator Ayu to Wike for his anointing. If he had done that, he would have known that Ayu was an old political associate of Atiku Abubakar.
The two men are so close that Senator Ayu was his campaign DG when he contested for the office of president in 2007 under ACN.
But you know, those that the gods want to destroy, they first make mad.
Wike was overjoyed that he had finally fired his former loyalist, from his lofty position as PDP chairman.
He was also convinced that Ayu would do his bidding and hand over the much vaunted PDP presidential ticket to him on a platter.
He had no idea that imagination differed from reality.
Wike was the special guest of honour when the Tiv community in Benue state organized a ceremony to honour their illustrious son who just emerged as PDP chairman.
Atiku was not invited, so he did not show up, but the old fox did not give up.
He went back to the drawing board, strategizing with his team and his political strategists for a comeback, knowing that this was his last chance to fulfill his life-long ambition.
Thinking that he had won the battle, Wike went on a gloating spree.”, insulting those who disagreed with him within the party. Atiku Abubakar was not spared from his caustic tongue as he branded him a Dubai resident in public.
And then comes the PDP presidential national convention.
A lot of intrigues, realignments, and new friendships were forged on the eve of the PDP presidential convention.
One of the intrigues was the all-night meeting between Atiku and Tambuwal.
The purpose of the meeting was to stop rampaging Wike, who was all set to emerge as the PDP presidential candidate.
The atmosphere was tense, and the stakes were high.
After a night of horse trading, negotiation, and intense political maneuvering, which involved a first-class emir from the north calling on Tambuwal to step down for Atiku, Tambuwal finally agreed to step down for Atiku, but under the condition that he would step down at the convention ground and not before it so as to caught Wike’s camp napping.
It could be recalled that Waziri left the convention ground a few minutes after he arrived at the venue.
He actually left to go and put finishing touches to the agreement he had with Tambuwal unknown to Wike, who was over the moon, 100% confident that the ticket belonged to him.
Tambuwal later stepped down for Atiku and the rest, as they say, is history.
Senator Ayu, installed by Ortom and Wike, visited Tambuwal. 24 hours after the convention, where he hailed him the hero of the convention.
In that move, Ayu showed his hands early, which sent a signal to Wike’s camp that Ayu had shifted his loyalty to his former political ally and associate, and who knows, was in the know that Tambuwal would step down for Atiku.
For the Wike camp, this was a double blow since they were still nursing the injury of what happened the previous night, just recovering from the defeat of their man.
So what Ayu did was an insult to Wike who installed Ayu as PDP chairman.
When Wike was ignored by Waziri in the choice of his running mate, that infuriated Wike the more and since that time till date, the PDP has never been the same.
While the Wike’s camp is demanding the removal of Ayu as one of the conditions to support Atiku’s election, his political associate and PDP presidential candidate is standing solidly, like the Rock of Gilbraltar behind his ally as he insists that Ayu will not step down for now.
The die is now cast between Atiku and Wike’s camp; who will blink first?
I watched Reuben Abati this morning on Arise TV and I agree 100% with his submission on the character of Wike.
If Atiku’s camp agrees to Ayu’s resignation to appease Wike the second time, I believe it will be over pampering of Wike who is intolerant, brook no opposition and who always wants to have his way.
The APC has taken Nigeria from the top to the bottom. Instead of aligning with his party on behalf of Nigerians on how to remove APC , Wike is busy throwing tantrums like a baby whose candy was removed from his mouthby his mother, showing his character and level of emotional development.
I wish PDP well, but Wike and his people should not forget what is at stake at the moment.
Nigerians want true change.
They should not also forget that the urgency of the moment, which is to save the country from the hands of this janjaweed party called APC, is greater than Wike and whatever injustice he believes Atiku and the PDP have done to him.