Indications have emerged why some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have remained silent over the ongoing crisis on the election of Minority Principal Officers of the House of Representatives.
The PDP’s National Working Committee had last week suspended Elumelu, Wole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu, Anayo Edwin, Gideon Gwani, Toby Okechukwu and Adekoya Abdul-Majid over the controversy trailing the emergence of Minority Principal Officers in the Green Chambers.
The National Working Committee of the PDP had picked Kinglsey Chinda as Minority Leader, but the opposition lawmakers rejected the decision of the party.
Speaking with selected newsmen, a source close to the PDP Governors revealed some of them are not happy with the decision of their Rivers State colleague, Nyesome Wike, who they accused of trying impose Chinda as Minority Leader of the House, adding that he is not popular among the opposition lawmakers.
He added that some of governors are of the view that since Rivers State has produced the National Chairman of the party, it is better for another state in the South South to produce the Reps Minority Leader for the sake of equity and fairness.
In his words: “Some of the Governors are not comfortable with the sole administrator approach of Governor Wike on the affairs of the party.
“This was the same way Governor Wike started a crisis in the party when he imposed Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as National Chairman of the party.
“The crisis nearly consumed the party.”
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has already sent a congratulatory message to Elumelu, saying: “The unity and progress of Nigeria are bigger than any personal, political or religious interests.
“I call on the leadership of the National Assembly to work for Nigeria instead of Nigeria working for them.”
A member of the PDP House of Representatives caucus who pleaded anonymity recalled how Wike threatened the party leadership at the venue of the PDP presidential primary election in 2018 when some stakeholders were kicking against holding the event in Port Harcourt.
“Some stakeholders of the party are wondering when did Governor Wike become the Alpha and Omega of the party,” the source said, adding: “Wike was nobody in 1998 when the party was formed as G-32.”
Credit: Eagle Online