By Adesina Soyooye
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu has decried what he called the deliberate, consistent and unfortunate attacks on his person since the Presidential Primary by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
He said that he had all along restrained himself from responding to such attacks because he felt that as the father of the Party, he should concentrate on building and reconciliation.
Responding to Wike’s attacks for the first time in a press release signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Simon Imobo-Tswam, Ayu said he was doing so now because his family has been dragged in by Governor Wike.
Said Ayu: “The consistent attack on my person since the end of the Convention on the 31st of May are deliberate and unfortunate. I have restrained myself from reacting. As the father of the Party, I felt I should encourage reconciliation. But where it touches on my personal integrity, of which even my own family members are brought into play, it is incumbent upon me to reply.”
Wike had, at a Press interview held in Porthacourt on Friday, which was televised, made very serious allegations bordering on corruption and theft against the Ayu. He accused the National Chairman of collecting the sum of N100m from a Governor for a PDP project, and still went ahead to collect same amount for same project from the coffers of the Party.
Ayu, strongly denies the allegations. But he, as well as not a few Nigerians, took exception to Wike’s submission that Ayu’s children would deny him as their father if they know even a little of what Ayu has done. He also dismissed Ayu as a man without any integrity.
Wike: “If people know what we know, If we release what we have, Ayu’s children will go to him and say we are no longer your children.”
However, not a few people say by dragging Ayu’s children into the fray, Wike has crossed the borderline. They want Ayu to sue Wike the minute Wike loses his immunity on May 29, 2023. They also say that Wike should explain the source of the money he is spending and why, in the past couple of months, he and his team have been “living” in Europe instead of their States.
In the past couple of months, Wike and Co have visited Turkey, France, (allegedly), London (twice), and are presently in Spain.
In a detailed response to Wike, Ayu said:
“When my BoT Chairman talks, I am not supposed to say anything more. But since these allegations have persisted, I want to use this opportunity to clear the air.
“When the first allegation was made i.e. the N1billion – I decided not to respond because we don’t want to cause altercations in the party. However, I want to make it clear that at no time did I, as the National Chairman of this party, collect any N1billion from anybody.
“The consistent attacks on my person since the end of the convention on the 31st of May are deliberate and unfortunate. I have restrained myself from reacting. As the father of the party, I felt I should encourage reconciliation. But where it touches on my personal integrity, of which even my own family members are brought into play, it is incumbent upon me to reply.
“So, I state that I never collected N1bn from anybody. Also the N100m that was donated by one of the governors has been judiciously used for the purpose it was given. And in the next few weeks, we will be inviting all party leaders, including members of the press, to come for the commissioning of the PDI.
“When we came in and the party had funding difficulties, the current Presidential candidate suggested that the party should take a loan of N1bn from a bank. And the owner of that bank was also an influential member of this party. He has left the party now.
“But when we discussed with him, we discarded the idea. And the party never took any loan or any money from anybody. And, I, as a person never collected N1billion from anybody. Any money advanced to the party was declared before the National Working Committee (NWC) and handed over to the National Treasurer of the party.
“The party’s accounts are straight. They are up to date. And we promise to present the audited account to the public at the end of the year.
“Luckily, I had fully briefed the Board that one of our governors made a contribution of N100m to the revival of the Peoples Democratic Institute which was housed in a portacabin. And we explained to them that we hired an appropriate place in Asokoro; we have renovated it and furnished it.
“Two or three days ago, we went there to inspect the place. And the NWC decided that even before commissioning, we should invite the Governor in question to come and inspect what we have done with his money. I am happy to state that the National Secretary of the party has since written a letter to that Governor.
“So, it is not true. Neither I, nor the NWC ever took any party money to carry out the renovation. In fact, we have not even exhausted that N100m which was donated by one of the governors.”
Wike holds Ayu responsible for his loss to the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the Presidential Primary.
He and his team are demanding for Ayu’s resignation as the Chairman because, according to them, he and the Candidate (Atiku), should not come from same zone. They want Ayu to quit in favour of a Southern candidate.
