Ortom says PDP leaders acted rather too late to resolve the conflict between Atiku and Wike.
The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom has admitted that the Peoples Democratic Party is in a serious crisis ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Nathaniel Ikyu on Monday, September 12, 2022, the governor said, “I will not say that all is well with our party.
Ortom blamed the crisis rocking the PDP on the leadership of the party, saying the party leaders acted too late to resolve the conflict between the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
He argued that the leadership of the party should have applied the existing internal conflict resolution mechanism to the continued stay in office of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as PDP National Chairman.
Ortom added that the leaders’ indecision over the matter created cramps within the party.
There are certain internal mechanisms that should apply to conflict resolution within the party.
“Some of these instruments should have been deployed long ago,” he said.
This is coming barely days after Wike rejected the resignation of the party’s Board of Trustee (BoT) chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, as a condition for reconciliation with Atiku and the PDP.
It would be recalled that on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) passed a confidence vote in Ayu.
But Wike rejected the move insisting Ayu must resign for peace to reign in the party.
However, in his statement, Ortom called for further dialogue between the Atiku and Wike camps.
He said discussions were still ongoing among various stakeholders to resolve the crisis to resolve the party’s crisis.
“Discussions are going at different levels away from the public eye, to ensure unity and oneness of purpose in the PDP, with eyes on 2023.
“I am very interested in ensuring that we discuss. I want us to have a win-win situation so that people will feel they have been carried along,” he said.
Ortom believes the PDP will soon reinvent itself ahead of the forthcoming elections to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023.
