After maintaining a studied silence since last week when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unveiled its presidential campaign committee for 2023 elections that included the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, the governor’s camp, yesterday, withdrew from the committee, reigniting a fresh episode in the crisis that had gripped the opposition party since it concluded its presidential primary in May.

Presidential aspirant, Gov.Wike had for days been unusually silent over his inclusion in the committee that included fellow presidential aspirants, Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, as director general, and Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Udom Emmanuel, as chairman, raising hopes that the last may have been heard over calls for the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu; but the wounds were reopened yesterday by the camp’s latest position.

Members of the team agreed not to participate in Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign activities pending the resignation of Ayu.

The meeting came barely a week after the party appointed some members of the group into Atiku’s campaign committee where Wike was slated as a member and Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, was listed as the Vice Chairman (South).

Those who attended yesterday’s meeting included PDP chieftain, Bode George; Makinde, former governors of Ondo, Cross River, Plateau and Ekiti states, Olusegun Mimiko, Donald Duke, Jonah Jang and Ayo Fayose, respectively.

In his reaction, Atiku has charged Wike and his allies to review their withdrawal from the party’s presidential campaign council. 

He declared the call for the resignation of Ayu as national chairman as unrealistic because nobody could lawfully force Ayu to resign.

The ex-VP insisted that calls for Ayu’s removal cannot be achieved because every organ of the party that should initiate the removal of the chairman had already passed a vote of confidence on the chairman.

In a statement he personally signed yesterday, Atiku charged party leaders to commit themselves to the task of rebuilding the nation and redeeming it from the shackles of poverty, insecurity and other socio-economic rot adding that it is time to move on.