The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday warned the leadership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to focus on resolving its internal conflict instead of playing the blame game.
The development was coming four days after the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, had accused the ruling party of sponsoring ‘mischievous’ posts on social media and stoking the feud between him and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The PDP chair made the allegation in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, on Friday.
A livid Ayu had stated that a make-believe post allegedly from a certain Lawal Garba but purported to have emanated from him had posited that he could not talk to a man who ‘cannot father a child!’
Ayu further stated, “Another post, with a photograph of Wike and a lady with some children (from Igbere TV) claims that the governor is not ‘the biological father of his three kids.’
“Nothing can be more diabolical, senseless and amateurish. Descending so low is neither in Ayu’s character nor nature. Those planting these stories against the PDP and her national chairman are simply showing their lack of intelligence.
“This is even more senseless as the National Chairman has met Governor Wike’s children on a number of times. We advise the APC and other mischievous people engaged in this shameful and criminal enterprise to be more professional next time.”
Reacting to his accusation, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, on Tuesday, appealed to Ayu to leave them out of the opposition party’s internal affairs.
This is even as he claims the APC does not meddle in other political parties’ affairs.
Morka made the clarification in a statement issued at the party’s national secretariat.
The statement partly read, “As he struggled to deny a statement credited to him that Governor Nyesom Wike could not father a child, Ayu alleged, ridiculously, that the APC and “other mischievous people” were planting such stories in the media.
“Understandably, Chairman Ayu is deep in quicksand and swinging wildly in search of third parties to blame for the internal combustion in the party that he leads.
“With such an escapist mindset, it is not difficult to see why the meltdown in the PDP has proven intractable on his watch. Lacking forthrightness and character to accept responsibility for the crisis in his party. How can he possibly resolve it?
“Unlike the party of Ayu, APC does not “plant stories” and does not meddle in the internal affairs of other parties. That is an area of extreme and unrivalled competence of the PDP. In any event, the PDP is unravelling unstoppably and needs no help from the outside.
“Rather than distract himself in search of an illusory scapegoat, Ayu and stakeholders of his withering PDP should concentrate on finding an anchor to slow the Party’s rudderless drift.
“How can a party that has proved incapable of governing itself seek to govern a country as important as Nigeria? After 16 years of ruthless misgovernance and crass failure to reform and reposition itself, quite frankly, the PDP stands morally disqualified from asking Nigerians for their votes in the next general election.”
