The chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Dr. Chidi Lloyd, has claimed that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was not committed to a genuine reconciliation of the waring members of the party.
He also accused the PDP national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu of not conducting himself properly after the party presidential primary, saying his utterances provoked a lot of people.
Lloyd, who is former leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, spoke yesterday when he appeared on LEADERSHIP Television’s live morning show, ‘Inside Nigeria’, which was monitored in Port Harcourt.
The council boss stated that Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike was not willing to dump the PDP, describing him as one of the strong pillars of the party who stood tall when it mattered most to ensure that the party remains afloat.
Lloyd said, “It is not actually correct to say that since after the PDP primaries, it has been the governor of Rivers State. You will recall that we went for the convention, finished and came back. When we got back to Rivers State, the governor settled in for the governance of Rivers State, which is the mandate that he has.
“You will recall that my governor has over the period been very quiet till some aides of the presidential candidate, including the presidential candidate started making statements, provocative statements, some of which bothered on this personality of Governor Wike, especially the statement credited to Babangida Aliyu and former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State. So, those were statements that had direct impact on the governor. So, he had to react.
“You will also recall that on a sister-station of yours, Reuben Abati made some uncanny statements about the governor. All these necessitated his reaction. The governor has not been bothered; we have put the presidential primaries behind us. To buttress that point, for nearly two weeks now, it has been one commissioning or the other. So that is the unique thing about Governor Wike.
“We have since put the presidential primaries behind us and we are now focused on governance. What we are doing here is about the governance of the people of Rivers State. We are not deterred with what those people are doing in Abuja.”
The LGA chairman said for them who are members of the PDP fold in Rivers State, they are not aware that there is any problem in the party. “All we see is that my governor has been on the pages of national dailies going into two months now. He has been consistently on the frontpage of nearly all the national dailies; not because of statements traced to him but because of what naysayer think about the governor of Rivers State,” he stated.
“Of course, nobody throws stones at a tree that does not bear fruits. It was not the governor of Rivers State alone that contested the PDP primaries with the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. But because he is the man to beat and of course, all those who talk about him know that.
“In my own opinion, I think the former Vice President has not shown any commitment to reconciliation, assuming but not conceding that there are issues.
“Well, you can take it to the bank; no pastor, no clergy will abdicate his pulpit to people who just repented. The governor of Rivers State is a bonafide member of the PDP and he is one of its very strong pillars; he will not ditch the party for anybody.
“The governor of Rivers State stood tall when it mattered most to ensure that the party remains afloat. So, he will not abdicate it for anybody. He will remain in the party and ensure that the party gets its electoral values.
“However, I want to advice those who hang around the presidential candidate, including the National Chairman, who also has not conducted himself properly since after the primaries knowing that nerves have been frayed during and after the primaries, had gone to visit another presidential aspirant, declaring him and hero of democracy. These are all things that are enough to provoke people,” he said.
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