The Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, and the Director General of the organisation and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, have commenced moves to end the crisis rocking the opposition party.
While Udom Emmanuel has commenced reconciliatory talks with a meeting held with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, Tambuwal is expected to use his position to mobilize the governors to achieve peace in the party, This Day reports.
It was gathered that Governor Emmanuel has called for genuine reconciliation with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and other aggrieved governors’ including Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Samuel Ortom of Benue and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.
Recall that the aggrieved governors and their loyalists have urged the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to pressure the party’s national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to resign to allow a southerner to head the party.
Sources close to the NWC revealed that the National Secretary of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu led a team of NWC to see Emmanuel after he accepted his appointment as the chairman of the presidential campaign organization.
A source also disclosed that when Atiku Abubakar was scheduled to meet Governor Makinde and other members in Ibadan, Oyo State, Ayu was asked to leave the country so that his presence would not endanger the peace talks.
“Since the crisis is revolving around him, it was agreed that he should take a vacation to give peace a chance and see how far we can go,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Governor Udom, while speaking to newsmen at the Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo, urged aggrieved PDP members to bury the hatchet and work together for the success of the party in the 2023 general election.
According to the Akwa Ibom State governor, the PDP needs to form a united front to reclaim power from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said: “Let me thank all our party members across the country for this confidence they have in me.
I also want to say that no one person can do it alone. It involves everybody in all the units, all the wards, and all chapters of our party to come together for the party to move forward.
I want to use this platform to appeal that if we had made mistakes in the past, we cannot turn back the clock.
We cannot recall what had passed yesterday. We can move forward in the spirit of oneness, unity, prosperity, and progress for our party, and I will appreciate it.”
