… As Wike’s group pull out of campaign council
…I can’t force Ayu to resign says Atiku
The leadership crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a new twist as Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike and the Southern Caucus pushing for the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu pulled out of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
This is even as the party’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar said that he cannot force the National Chairman to resign insisting that there are processes in the party’s constitution through which a National officer of the party can be removed.
However, Bar. Charles Ugwu, one of the 2023 PDP Presidential Aspirants has called on the party’s National Executive Committee(NEC) to remove Ayu in the interest of the party and the nation.
Governor Wike had earlier claimed that there was an agreement that Ayu will vacate office for a Southerner if the next Presidential candidate of the party comes from the North. He accused Atiku of shielding Ayu and not bold enough to effect his resignation due to his inordinate ambition.
The crises which led to several reconciliation meeting in Port Hacourt, Abuja and London delayed the composition of the Presidential Campaign Council as the Wike and Ayu loyalists were unable to make compromises following fears that members may reject their appointment if Ayu will not concede his position to a Southerner.
Recall that the Board of Trustee (BoT) Chairman of the Party Sen. Walid Jubrin who is also from the North resigned his position which was due to end in the next six months as a result of the non-inclusiveness of the South in the party national structure.
Some members of the Council from the South after a meeting in the Private Residence of Wike in Port Hacourt on Wednesday resolved to turn down their membership of the campaign council. They vowed not to partake in Atiku’s campaign activities until the resignation of Ayu.
A life member of PDP Board of Trustee (BoT) Bode George, who read the resolution of the group, said: “We are aware that over the years our party has developed conflict resolution mechanisms that guarantee inclusiveness.
“The published presidential campaign council list translates to putting the cat before the horse. The pertinent issue remains the resolution of the leadership which is a departure of “Senator Iyorchia Ayu must resign as the National Chairman of the party for an acting Chairman of the Southern Nigerian extraction to emerge and lead the party on the national campaign.
“Consequently, we resolve not to participate in the campaign council in whatever capacity until the resignation of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu”.
Adding his voice, former Plateau State Governor, Senator Jonah Jang, claimed that Ayu was a bad referee, who assisted one side to score a goal during a football match and later blew the whistle. He accused Ayu of compromising the presidential primaries of the party through his conduct.
Jang said: “For a National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu to go and embrace Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tanbuwal, calling him the hero of the convention meant that there was a private arrangement that was done with Tambuwal to shortchange other contestants including Governor Wike.
“Here was a referee, who helped one of his sides to score a goal and then blew the whistle. This is not what we formed the PDP to do for Nigerians. Therefore, we unequivocally ask that Ayu must step down”.
Also Speaking, former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, said that if the party intended to restructure Nigeria it should have the courage to restructure itself.
“You cannot build on a faulty foundation. This call for the chairman to step down or resign is not because any of us is aggrieved but because we believe it is important to ensure a just, fair, principled and constitutional structure for the party. If we want to restructure Nigeria, we should have the courage to restructure our party” Gana said.
Reacting to the new development, one of the defeated Presidential Aspirants in the party, Bar. Charles Ugwu called on Ayu to save the party and Nigerians by doing the needful.
In a telephone conversation with our reporter, Ugwu who was in the meeting between Atiku and other Presidential aspirants last week said,
“The group that met at Port Hacourt is a very significant part of PDP. When we met with His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, we pleaded with him to meet with other stake holders on how the party can pull together to resolve this apparently intractable problem because without a united PDP, we might find the next election very difficult to win.
“If you watched the proceedings of the consultative meeting between our candidate and the South West, he did promise that Ayu resigning or stepping aside is still possible within the rules and constitution of the party. I do not think that it is late for Ayu to step down, it is still possible within the rules and constitution of the party”.
Bar Ugwu said that the best way to remove Ayu if he fails to resign is through the National Executive Committee (NEC).
“The NEC of a party has the power of a convention. It can do anything that a convention of a party can do. It can even change the name of PDP, it can alter offices, it can produce new officers. All that is required is for NEC to be summoned for the needful to be done and we need to do that now and very urgently also”.
On his advise to Ayu, Ugwu continued, “I will ask him to look at the national interest because the power play in the PDP will affect the nation at large. Majority of Nigerians are actually yearning for an alternative to this APC that has brought us down. So if there is any concession or compromise we can make to let the party win the next general election, it will be in the larger interest of the nation”.
But the PDP flag bearer, Atiku in a statement on Wednesday said that he cannot force Ayu to resign.
He said, “Early this morning, my attention was drawn to a news clip in which several very senior and influential members of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), addressed the press and, amongst other things, declared that they are withdrawing, forthwith, from the Presidential Campaign Council set up by our party to judiciously plan and prosecute the general elections set to hold in February and March 2023, on the one hand; and reiterated their earlier calls for the resignation or removal from office of the national chairman of our party, Senator Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, on the other hand.
“The people that addressed the press must have their reasons for withdrawing from the Presidential Campaign Council, and I will not speculate as to what those reasons may be. Personally, I am quite surprised with this withdrawal because, as I have been informed by officials of our party, apart from the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, all the remaining states of the federation submitted names of people who they wanted included in the Presidential Campaign Council.
“On the calls for the resignation or removal from office of our national chairman, however, I must reiterate what I have said severally in public and in private; the decision for Dr. Iyorchia Ayu to resign from office is personal to Dr. Ayu and, neither I nor anyone else can make that decision for him. As to the calls for the removal of Dr. Ayu from office, however, I will state that, as a committed democrat and firm believer in the rule of law and democratic tenets, and our party being one set up, organized and regulated by law and our constitution, it is my absolute belief that every thing that we do in our party must be done in accordance with, and conformity to, the law and our constitution. If Dr. Ayu is to be removed from office, it must be done in accordance with the laws that set out the basis for such removal. In any event, you will all recall that the very body that is empowered by law to initiate this removal from office, has already passed a vote of confidence in him.
“Now, our nation is currently in the throes of a multidimensional crisis encompassing insecurity, economic meltdown, disunity and mutual mistrust and educational dislocations, to mention a few. I have a plan to address these issues and I have, graciously, been given the ticket to lead our great party in next year’s presidential elections, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure these ills. It is in this light that I have reached out to every single member of our great party to join me in the massive undertaking required to reset the ship of state, and help rebuild our country.
“Every single person who loves this country, as I do, is needed for the arduous tasks that face us ahead as a nation, and this includes every member of the PDP. And it is my fervent hope and prayer that every man and woman of goodwill will join hands with us to help rebuild and reposition our beloved country. In this light, therefore, I will urge those members of our party that have stated their resolve to withdraw from the Presidential Campaign Council to have a rethink, retrace their steps, and join us in these efforts”.
The Wike group also raised concerns over plots to move the zonal headquarters of the party from Port Hacourt to Akwa Ibom following the appointment of Gov. Udom Emmanuel as Chairman of PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
The South South PDP, in a statement by the zonal Organising Secretary, Ekom Akonjom, in a communique issued after a meeting of the party noted that a zonal consultative meeting, which ordinarily should hold in the Rivers State capital is scheduled to hold in one of the nearby states.
Wike’s supporters consider the move as an attempt to sideline the governor and whittle down his relevance in the affairs of the party in the zone.
