A former senator and Spokesperson of the Atiku-Okowa presidential campaign, Dino Melaye has said some of the aggrieved governors of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP are still going to work for the party through which the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar will emerge as the next president of Nigeria.
Melaye spoke while appearing on Channels Television Politics Today on Tuesday
G-5 governors which include Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Samuel Ortom of Benue, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State are currently at the loggerheads with the leadership of the party calling for the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu as the party’s national chairman.
According to Wike’s allies, the national chairman and the presidential candidate of the party cannot be from the same region.
Speaking on the crisis in the party, Melaye said PDP governors, including Wike’s allies, worked towards Ayu becoming the national chairman of the party.
The PDP presidential campaign spokesperson also said it is insincere to involve Abubakar in the call for Ayu to resign.
“What is the role of Atiku Abubakar in Ayu leaving or not? To start with, the governors brought in Ayu without the consent or approval of Atiku,” Melaye said.
“Ayu is a creation of the governors. Governor Wike was responsible for the coming of Ayu while Governor Ortom was the guarantor.
“Ayu is their product. That is why there was no competition. That is why Ayu was the sole candidate. By the time Ayu was coming, were they thinking that Ayu is from Abia, Enugu or Ogbomoso?
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“Ayu is not Atiku’s son that he will say ‘go and sit down.’ For you to ask Atiku to take panadol for another person’s headache shows insincerity of purpose, heart and commitment.
“Above all, by the grace of God, at the end of the day, we may not get everybody together but I want to tell you that some of these governors are still going to work for their party.
“You see in Benue rally yesterday, Gabriel Suswam, the immediate past governor of Benue state, before Governor Wike and the other governors, before Ortom, he made it categorically that they are going to support Atiku and the party from head to bottom.
“Senator Abba Moro and Governor of Abia when talking in Makurdi also made it clear that he is support the PDP from head to bottom.” Melaye added.
Speaking about the position of the aggrieved governors calling for the resignation of Ayu,Senator Dino Melaye, said it’s not the first time the PDP will be having its presidential candidate and national chairman from the same region.
He added that the All Progressives Congress, APC, should not be the yardstick for measuring the PDP.
He said:“It’s not happening for the first time. We had Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo as the National Chairman / Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the Presidential Candidate and we also had Vincent Ogbulafo as National Chairman / Chief Obasanjo President . They were all from the South. So you cannot use the APC’s clock to tell the time of the PDP.
“Nobody can preach the unity of our party to us because we are very conscious of that. You can only begin to appropriate positions when you are in power. In other words, you cannot be sharing power when you are not in power. It would be idiotic to start sharing power when you are not in power.
“Atiku as a person is a very compassionate person. When he emerges, no part of this country will be ignored. It is only Atiku that will unify this country and it is only Atiku that would solve the problem of insecurity in this country”.
Speaking earlier, the former senator had reacted to the statement by the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom saying that he will not support the presidential ambition of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Melaye was reacting to Ortom’s disposition that he would not support a Fulani man to become the nation’s president due to atrocities of the Fulani in Benue State.
Ortom spoke in Makurdi on Monday in the presence of his colleagues;Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu of Rivers, Oyo, Enugu and Abia states respectively.
He said, “My people are being killed and you want me to be quiet; you want me to be a slave to a Fulani. It’s better I die.To hell with Atiku. Anybody supporting Atiku in Benue is an enemy of the state.
Reacting to the statement of Ortom, the former Kogi senator said while he condemned the criminalities of Fulani herders going on in Benue state and in Nigeria, it was not fair for Ortom to drag Atiku in the mud over the issue.
Melaye said, “Everybody has the right to support any presidential candidate of their choice. But it is unfair for Governor Ortom to put the blame of criminalities of Fulani herders going on in Benue State on the lap of our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.”
He further said, “I also condemn the attacks and killing of people in Benue, but this has nothing to do with Atiku Abubakar.”
Atiku’s media aide also said not all Fulani are evil. He said there are good Muslims and Christians among the Fulani adding that former Presidents – Shehu Shagari and Umaru Yar’Adua were both Fulani and appointed Benue indigenes into their respective governments.