Ayu denies meeting Gov. Wike

The National Chairman, of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has denied meeting with the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The national chairman disclosed this in a statement through his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, late Tuesday night.

Imobo-Tswam stated, “Dr Ayu clearly said that he never travelled to Port Harcourt and has not set eyes on Governor Wike lately.

“The photograph trending on social media is an old one. The story accompanying it is, therefore, false and mischievous.

He urged PDP members to focus on the 2023 general elections.

In another development, the Atiku-Okowa presidential campaign said the “insufficient integrity” of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, is the cause for the prolonged withdrawal of the President Major-General, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), from the party’s campaign.

This was disclosed by the spokesperson of the campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement late Wednesday night, in Abuja.

Ologbondiyan stated that the presidential flag-bearer was the least eligible individual to campaign applying integrity as a parameter due to his deficiency in that regard.

He revealed, “His total lack of integrity has forced President Muhammadu Buhari to stay away from his (Tinubu’s) presidential campaign.

“Is it not an absurdity that a presidential candidate that is beleaguered by several allegations bordering on corruption, perjury, identity theft, inconsistencies in name as well as alleged narcotics offence, for which he forfeited a gargantuan sum of $460,000 to the United States of America, could muster the courage to address any gathering whatsoever on the issue of integrity?

“Has Asiwaju Tinubu defended the identity theft of the picture of former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, which was deliberately used by his campaign organization to portray him as a bright young man?”

He stressed that the prolonged absence of President Buhari at the APC presidential campaigns showcased a concern by Mr President that Tinubu, because of his lack of integrity, will (could) lose a free, fair and credible poll come February 25, 2023.

Continuing he said, “Our campaign also holds that President Buhari is distancing himself from Tinubu’s campaign because of the inability of the APC presidential candidate to provide a convincing explanation on his links to the alleged forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States authorities in a narcotics-related matter.”

He, therefore, advised Tinubu to stop dishing empty promises to Nigerians since compatriots were yet to recover from similar events which he led in the past.

(Punch)