Daniel Bwala: Wike playing God — PDP will survive if he leaves

Daniel Bwala, a spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, has accused Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, of playing the role of God in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Bwala spoke on Friday during an interview with Channels Television.

Over the past weeks, the PDP has been enmeshed in internal wrangling as the Wike and his allies are calling for the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman.

The crisis in the party took a new turn on Friday when Wike, during a media chat, claimed that Ayu received N1 billion from one of the presidential hopefuls in the party.

Reacting to Wike’s comments, Bwala said the Rivers governor usually describes those who refuse to agree with him as “betrayers”.

The lawyer, who recently joined the PDP, accused Wike of frustrating the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the south-east because he wanted to contest the presidency.

“In the past, he mentioned people like the entire governors of the south-south, when he said his own brothers betrayed him,” he said.

“Before then, he had also said governors in the south-east betrayed him at some point.

“He had in the past said David Umahi and Ben Ayade who left the party for APC betrayed him. It appears to me that everybody around him has betrayed him as long as he does not have his way.

“If I take you back memory lane, you will agree with me that all the past chairmen, at least three or four, he brought them and there were times when he had a problem with them, he insisted that they had to go. So, why is it that everybody is betraying you in life?

“Political party is a party for everyone. Let me tell you something about life, because he is a Christian. I will probably have the luxury of quoting the scripture, otherwise, I will consider the sensitivity.

“You know the scripture says God gives power to whosoever he will. It is good to be rich and to be helpful, but the one thing that God doesn’t share is when you begin to take His place.

“How do you take the place of God? When nothing moves except you are in it, except you direct it? I will give you an example. He talks about equity, fairness and justice that has become the cliche and the hallmark of his campaign.

“In his state, the chairman of the party and the governorship candidate are from the same senatorial district. In his state, the very individual that decided to pick a form to run for senate when he had not given the approval, what happened to the person? He was held in custody.

“At every material time that the party took decisions, at least in the last few times that we know, they were decisions that were taken in the belief that Wike should have his way. That is why I said it is not good to play God.”

Bwala added that the PDP will survive if Wike leaves the party.

“From the look of things, it is just Wike. The flagbearer has never said anything and has said nobody should insult him. Ayu and Atiku are founding members of the party. Even though they left, they still had to come back,” he added.

“Let me tell you why you cannot play God. Atiku left the party, it survived; Ayu left the party, it survived; if Wike leaves, the party will survive.”