Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike’s team has given a condition for holding peace talks with the representatives of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar on Friday.
Gatekeepers News reports that Wike’s men have insisted on the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition for the talks to proceed.
However, PUNCH reported that Atiku’s delegation had vowed to reject the call for Ayu’s resignation.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the rift between Atiku and Wike started after the governor’s ambition of becoming the party’s vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections failed following the emergence of the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as Atiku’s running mate.
Sources in Port Harcourt told PUNCH that the first demand of the governor’s men at the meeting is Ayu’s resignation.
The sources added that if Atiku’s men failed to support the call for Ayu’s resignation, the meeting would not proceed.
A member of Wike’s team, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Ayu has shown that he cannot be trusted. He once said that once a presidential candidate emerges from the North, he will resign. Now, he cannot honour his own words. Can such a man be trusted?
“Ayu should leave in the interest of equity and fairness. He has to go before we agree to hold the reconciliation meeting. He is not an unbiased umpire. He worked for Atiku.”
Meanwhile, Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, who should have led members of the reconciliation committee in Atiku’s camp was not present at the meeting because he was the chief host at the defection of some All Progressives Congress members in Yola.
Nevertheless, there were strong indications on Wednesday that both sides had yet to agree on the venue of the Friday meeting.
Although a reliable source in Atiku’s camp claimed that both parties agreed to hold the meeting in Abuja, a source in Wike’s camp argued that no one in the governor’s team was aware of the decision that the meeting would hold in Abuja.
The source added that if Ayu resigned in the interest of the party, the reconciliation meeting would be held in no other place than Port Harcourt.
“In respect of the meeting to settle the disagreement between Wike and Atiku, and as a counter to the statement that an agreement had been reached for the meeting to be held in Abuja on Friday, we are stating categorically that the meeting will be held in no place other than Port Harcourt.
“That is our position; we are unaware of the agreement that informed the claim that the reconciliation committee will meet in Abuja on Friday,” the source in Wike’s camp said.
