Ayu to Wike: I collected N100m from gov, not N1bn

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has denied allegations by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he collected N1 bllion from a governor elected on the platform of the opposition party.

Wike, in an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Friday, had accused Ayu of collecting N100 million bribe from a governor.

“Let me also tell you, Ayu collected N100 million from a governor. I am telling you of a governor.

“Let him (Ayu) say no that it was not true and I will tell you the governor. These are things people don’t know,” the governor had said.

Reacting to the allegations, Ayu said a governor of the PDP donated N100 million for the renovation of the party’s Democratic Institute, noting that the the renovation is ongoing.

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The former Senate President stated that he never collected any money as an individual, adding that monies he received on behalf of the PDP were duly remitted to the party’s treasury.

“I never collected N1 billion from anybody. And the 100 million that was donated by one of the governors was judiciously used for the purpose that it was given,” the PDP chairman said.

Governor Wike has since been at loggerheads with Ayu over calls for the latter’s resignation.

Wike and his allies had called for the resignation of the PDP chairman as a condition to campaign for the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 polls, adding that the former senator should step down for a southerner.

The Star