He who comes into equity must come with clean hands may best describe the position of Hon. Frank Shuaibu, a Special Assistant to the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, when he asked Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike to first demonstrate fairness and justice in his home state before asking the party to sack its National Chairman, Senator Iyiorchia Ayu.
Frank Shuaibu, while speaking on Africa Independent Television programme, Democracy Today which was monitored in Abuja on Thursday by the Blue print newspaper, said it is wrong for Wike to talk about fairness, equity and justice in the position of national chairman of the party whereas the party chairman in Rivers state is from the same senatorial district with the governorship candidate.
He said while the governorship candidate of the PDP in Rivers state, Hon. Siminialayi Fabura is from Opobo Nkoro local Government Area, the state chairman of the party, Desmond Akawor is from Oyigbo local government area. Both in Rivers South-East senatorial zone.
He said for Wike’s group to insist that Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu should resign in the interest of fairness and equity, while he does not see anything wrong with that of his home state is double standard.
Recalling section 7 sub section 3 of the party’s constitution, Shuaibu said, “You cannot read that in isolation of section 552 which says, if you remove the chairman or he resigns, the Vice Chairman from the same zone with that particular chairman takes over.”
“As things are today, we are speaking to a nation, so it is not about an individual but about Nigeria. If we want to rescue Nigeria, that is, change the situation, you have to return for instance a bag of rice to 7000 from the current N38,000. We must watch what we say”.
“Let’s even rely on section 7 (3). As at the time we went into the primary, was there equity, fairness and justice? The answer is yes, so what has changed? Has the emergence of Atiku Abubakar suddenly distorted the whole thing? The answer is no. Atiku Abubakar is only a candidate of the party; he is not a president yet.
“I am particularly happy because Governor Nyesom Wike is a lawyer, he delved into politics and has done creditably well for the people. He is one of the postal boys of the PDP administration, we love him. We know what he can do but the issue is about the rule of law, we must do the right thing.
The PDP internal crisis dipped on Wednesday when members of the People’s Democratic Party in the camp of the Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike withdrew from the campaign council of its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar over the continued stay of Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu as the National Chairman of the party.
The group insisted that for equity and inclusivity in the party, the national chairman should resign his position for the south as according to them, it is inappropriate to zone both the chairmanship position and presidential candidate to the North.
