Rivers State: PDP has no candidates except one in the forthcoming elections

Na person wey never go another person papa farm de think say na him papa farm big pass for their village!

Whether anybody wants to hear this or not, the Governor Nyesom Wike –led Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers state is possibly not going to have any candidates at all in the forthcoming elections except he swallows the humble pile and retrace his steps which now could best be described as self-destruct and at worst broad day suicide.

If not for the blindness of inordinate ambition, Wike and his group have realised that practically nobody in the country is interested anymore in him or his G-5 clowns but he just wouldn’t realise it. The Atiku he’s been fighting doesn’t have any time whatsoever for him or his hangers-on governors just that the former vice president initially opted to play the statesman role in Wike’s overstretched tantrum.

As already established by the PDP National Headquarters and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), only one aspirant in Rivers state collected nomination form from the National Secretariat for any elective positions.

Aside Farah Dagogo who collected nomination form to contest for the governorship position of the state, all the other forms including one governorship, all the National and state Assemblies slots were collected with signature by Wike himself which he shared to his hand-picked candidates.

According to PDP National Chairman, no one from River State bought form from the National Secretariat. Ayu is challenging anyone who bought form by himself from Wadatta Plaza Abuja to come and provide evidence/receipt in court.

For clarity sake, and for the benefit of those who are ignorant of the Electoral Act 2010, Amended, now Electoral Act 2022, only the Headquarters of the Party is empowered to communicate to INEC on the candidates of the party, as well as sending legal representation in any case in court.

Just as the incumbent Rivers state governor used consent judgment delivered by the Rivers State High Court to deprive the Rivers state All Progressive Congress (APC) from the ballot in the 2019 general elections, obviously this act of consent is sure playing to repeat itself in state against Wike and all his party candidates except bros comes back home now.

As said by the PDP in its statement issued in Abuja, “We have records of Rt. Hon. Dr. Farah Dagogo, with receipts/bank drafts bearing his names. PDP National Secretariat’s Bank Statement does not have any record/details of those individuals that were gifted forms for their loyalty to Mr. Nyesom Wike, except for one individual that made the buck purchase, Chief Emeka Wokeh, Chief of Staff to Mr. Wike, who did the transaction on behalf of the State Governor.

“The party is ready to do a joinder to clear this error, which it committed before the Law, as Farah Dagogo actually bought the 2023 PDP Governorship Intent Form. Meanwhile, as a Party, we have directed our Legal Team to withdraw all cases instituted in its name against opposition parties in Rivers State”.

It would have been better for Wike if he has no governorship candidate to protect under the PDP as that seems to be the entry point for the party’s National Chairman, Ayu and his co-travellers. Is it not clear that Ayu can very easily discredit the primaries that produced Wike’s candidate, Sim Fubara because in the first instance, he never collected expression of interest form from the party secretariat?

On the other hand, the PDP can allow Wike to rumble and jumble in campaigning for and declaring his candidate as the winner of the governorship election and then the end shall come when PDP makes their case that the person declare is not their candidate as he is not known at the national secretariat and did not collect expression of interest form to run as governor.

As at today Farah Dagogo, the only aspirant that collected the expression of interest form from the party’s national secretariat is the authentic governorship candidate of the party. So Wike may just be campaigning and fighting for Farah Dagogo who will ultimately be the beneficiary of the PDP’s victory in Rivers state.

After serial bragging, Wike begs court to stop PDP from throwing him out for anti-party outbursts. This is the same man that has been daring his party that they cannot suspend him.

He approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to restrict the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from suspending or expelling him for anti-party.

The PDP, its National Executive Council (NEC), National Working Committe (NWC), National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwo, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were named as respondents in the lawsuit brought before Justice J.K. Omotosho.

Mr Wike asked the court to declare that none of the respondents could take any disciplinary action on him while the originating summons was being decided.

Recall that the Abia state governor Okezie Ikpeazu invited Gov Wike during the flag off of the Abia State campaigns while flagrantly disregarding the National Chairman of his party and the Presidential Candidate.

He instead arranged for Wike to present flag to Prof. Uche Ikonne as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Abia State; a symbolic job exclusive to the National Chairman of the party.

As rightly captured in a commentary, Gov. Ikpeazu laughed as Gov.Wike mocked Iyochia Ayu and described Atiku as an enemy of progress who blocked Ikpeazu from taking loans to rebuild Ariaria international market.

Today and sadly too, Prof. Ikonne is dead and Gov. Ikpeazu needs Ayu to write to INEC to conduct fresh primary election to help him submit fresh governorship candidate for Abia State PDP.

If you are Iyorchia Ayu, what will you do seeing Ikpeazu now calling to beg you to help him deliver another preferred candidate after he invited his friends and folks to publicly make you a laughing stock in the territory he controls?

This seems to be a moral lesson to all of us. This life is deep; so deep to comprehend outrightly. Ikpeazu had no justifiable reason at all to begin to fight Ayu and the National leadership of the PDP. Ayu did not offend Ikpeazu in any way; he woke up one morning and decided to delve into Wike’s personal vendetta against the Party for losing out to Atiku.

Ikpeazu found himself in a catch-22 situation where his almighty friends and folks cannot help. It takes only the help of his inherited enemy to salvage his situation.

And I can authoritatively tell you that Ikpeazu sneaked into Abuja to beg with tears his inherited enemy. This has taught me one thing; it has taught me how to be forgiving no matter how one has been wronged in life.

• Mr. Izeze is a National Daily Columnist and can be reached on: [email protected]; +234-8033043009