Face Your Mess, Accept Responsibility For PDP Crisis, APC Tells Ayu

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has advised the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, to fix the problems he created for his party instead of blaming the APC for his woes.

In response to last week’s blame on the APC that the ruling party was sponsoring attacks against his person and his ordeal thus fanning the ember of disunity in PDP, Felix Morka, the spokesman of the APC on Tuesday said Ayu is struggling to deny what he said about Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he could not father a child.

Recall Ayu had last week reproduced two posts attacking Wike which were credited to him on social media.

One of the posts which he quoted was, “One post, from one Lawal Garba, purporting to be from me states that I said I cannot talk to a man who ‘cannot father a child!’

“Another post, with a photograph of Wike and a lady with some children claims that the governor is not “the biological father of his three kids.”

He went on to deny that, “I state, categorically and without equivocation, that the posts are completely false. Even the inelegant construction of the posts put them beneath my personality.

“I never said anything after Wike’s statements the other day and do not intend to say anything in response”, he had stated.

But the APC claimed there were some unclear references from Ayu that alleged it is sponsoring such attacks.

Responding to the allegation that it was fanning embers of disunity in the PDP, APC said, “Ayu is deep in quicksand and swinging wildly in search of third parties to blame for the internal combustion in the party that he leads.

“With such an escapist mindset, it is not difficult to see why the meltdown in the PDP has proved intractable on his watch. Lacking forthrightness and character to accept responsibility for the crisis in his party, how can he possibly resolve it?

“Unlike the party of Ayu, APC does not ‘plant stories’ and does not meddle in the internal affairs of other parties. That is an area of extreme and unrivaled competence of the PDP. In any event, the PDP is unraveling unstoppably and needs no help from the outside.”

Ayu has been asked to step aside by Wike, who enjoys huge support from some serving and former governors, and many other stakeholders over the alleged compromise of his leadership role.

Wike specifically accused Ayu of showing bias for Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential standard bearer.

Wike was also a presidential aspirant of the PDP. He came second to Atiku.

As one of the minimum conditions for peace and full support for the PDP in next year’s elections, Wike’s camp has said all major positions of the party, including the presidential candidate can not be held by people from the North.

This point was given credence in 2021 when Ayu noted “if the party asked me to step down, in the event the presidential candidate comes from the North, I am a party man, I will step down.”

His refusal to honour such a public declaration has compounded the crisis in the party, stalling the setting up of the PDP presidential campaign council, with a few weeks to the commencement of the presidential election campaign.

The APC however added that “Rather than distract himself in search of an illusory scapegoat, Ayu and stakeholders of his withering PDP should concentrate on finding an anchor to slow the Party’s rudderless drift.

“How can a party that has proved incapable of governing itself seek to govern a country as important as Nigeria? After 16 years of ruthless misgovernance and crass failure to reform and reposition itself, quite frankly, the PDP stands morally disqualified from asking Nigerians for their votes in the next general election.

“On our part, we will remain focused in search of new and creative ways of improving the quality of life of our people, and working to convince them to renew our mandate again in 2023,” APC said.