The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has threatened to sanction Governors of Rivers and Bauchi states, Siminalayi Fubara and Bala Mohammed for endorsing the Rivers’ local government elections.
The party accused the duo of endorsing the election, which was won by the opposition parties in the state.
The acting national publicity secretary of the party, Ibrahim Manga, disclosed this during an interview with the Tribune Newspaper.
He noted that contrary to the widespread impression, the party had done everything possible for the governor, but he failed to mobilise his co-governors and the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party for support.
Mr Manga said: “It’s a very, very long story that we will not be able to make sense of now. The kind of opportunity given to Fubara by this party is the sort that you never imagine exists from any political party to any of its members, not a governor, not a president.
“It is the sort that you would not believe any member will enjoy, any person no matter his status, whether in former president, because if I start now talking, I’ll dig out what we have been keeping in the cooler, the opportunities, the chances, the repeated chances given to this governor for him to take the leadership and take control of the structure.
“He was the first person that came to meet this NWC when they requested for the replacement of the state’s chairman of the PDP.
“He said no no no no, nobody should call him that they should call oga in Abuja, let oga give the person, anyone Oga gives, he is comfortable.
“This was the beginning of the whole of this problem. He was the one who said he cannot take decisions when Nyesom Wike is still alive. That was before the relationship went sour.
“So, at what point did you now stop recognising him as your boss, that you start taking all of those decisions?
“See, why we don’t need to delve too much into the back and forth of a River State, what is important is that at the point that we have reached now, the summary of it all is that a governor with a state like Rivers, it was the same state Wike occupied that he was able to give the PDP the required opposition; it confronted the Buhari-led federal government for eight years.
“Fubara is sitting on that same saddle now and yet, cannot be able to rally his colleagues, governors behind him. He cannot be able to hold the National Working Committee to identify with him just because his predecessor is a minister in Abuja.
“All of us, we thought he was worthy of the attention, but the more you look the less you understand. You can’t be crying like a baby all the time. You cannot provide leadership, fight it out.
“Do you think all the governors are comfortable? Why are they in charge of their respective states except him? Something is missing about this guy. So, please, at the risk of sounding immodest, we have done the best we can do for Fubara.
“We are not supporting Wike. I have been critical of Wike, you know. Even recently, I have said that nobody can hold PDP to ransom. We are not under anybody’s pocket. It’s on record.
“So, I’ve said all these sort of things I would say. If I was taking a naira from Wike, I couldn’t have gone on air to say all of these things.”
He added: “That is a clear anti-party on the part of the governor, and we will wait for him with that himself. The governor that went to identify with him during the inauguration of the elected officials himself, the chairman of the governors’ forum, will be accused of anti-party.
“And this is why we are always careful to, you know, apply the sledgehammer on the heads of all of those persons accused of identifying with this thing called anti-party.
“Because you would soon realise that you have finished all the members of the party and you are leaving nobody behind. Everybody has one action or the other that can constitute what is anti-party in the face of law.
“So in the running party…because he went there, they were inaugurated, none of them was PDP local government chairman, none, the 21 of them.
“But the chairman of the PDP forum went there, gave his blessing for a sitting PDP governor to inaugurate the opposition party, and then they were all joyful and in a festive mood. How will you now say you are serving PDP with this action alone?”
