Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has responded to Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike over the PDP national convention. Makinde said he would “not go into the gutter” with Wike on the issue.
Speaking after the PDP southern consultative zoning meeting in Lagos on Thursday, Makinde dismissed Wike’s claims. Wike earlier said the PDP’s national executive committee (NEC) did not invite him to the meeting where members fixed the national convention for Ibadan on November 15 and 16.
“I am not aware that they are going to a convention in Ibadan. I have not been informed or invited, as a NEC member” Wike stated.
Findings revealed, however, that the FCT minister was indeed invited. Makinde countered: “When people go low, or they go into the gutters, I don’t go with them.”
Wike had also warned that PDP’s internal conflict would continue until the party recognized the results of the south-south zonal congress held in Calabar. That congress re-elected Wike’s ally, Dan Orbih, as chairman on February 22. But in March, the PDP national working committee (NWC) rejected the congress and denied Orbih’s election.
On Thursday, some PDP leaders, including state chairmen from the south-east and south-south, complained that the organizers excluded them from the Lagos meeting. They described it as secretive and vowed to resist its conclusions.
Makinde, however, promised to reach out to aggrieved members. “I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal. Nigerians are watching. We want to give them a PDP that works,” he said.
Those at the Lagos meeting included Bayelsa governor Douye Diri, PDP board of trustees (BoT) chairman Adolphus Wabara, former deputy national chairman Olabode George, and former Akwa Ibom governor Udom Emmanuel.
Last week, the PDP NWC set up a 44-member zoning committee. Its mandate is to assign party leadership seats to Nigeria’s geopolitical zones ahead of the convention.
