The National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party is divided amid calls for the ouster of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, ahead of its meeting, which is set to take place Thursday in Abuja.
Ayu’s supporters claimed that he would not step down at this crucial moment when the PDP was gearing up for elections, despite some NEC members from the South insisting that this was the only way to resolve the party’s continuing conflict.
Since Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, was announced as the front-runner for president, the opposition party has been in a state of upheaval.
The presidential candidate shouldn’t come from the same region as the party chairman and chairman of the Board of Trustees, according to the supporters of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who had been calling for Ayu’s resignation.
Although the PDP formed a panel to handle the issue, Wike had persisted in wanting Ayu fired, with the support of three other governors.
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The party chairman vowed to continue in office until the end of his four-year term in defiance of pressure to step down. He also criticised those calling for his ouster as inexperienced youth who didn’t understand how the PDP came to be.
In an interview with The Punch on Tuesday, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Oyo State, Mr. Akeem Olatunji, reaffirmed their demand, highlighting how removing Ayu will help Atiku win the election.
Olatunji stated that the state chapter of the party had nothing against Atiku and Ayu and that their demand came from a desire to see the party win the election.
“We are passionate about Alhaji Abubakar Atiku winning this presidential election, which is why we are requesting that Senator Iyorchia Ayu move aside and make way for a representative from the South,” he said.
“By February 2023, Alhaji Atiku should change from a candidate to the President-elect of this nation, not only remain a presidential contender.
“We think that the national presidency of the PDP coming from the South can help to make our task simpler. We don’t want our rivals to use that against us in a campaign.
“We don’t have anything against Senator Ayu or Atiku; we are not their adversaries; rather, we want the party to succeed. We believe it is best to resolve this issue at this time. For balance, we want the PDP’s national chairmanship to visit the South.
Although he emphasised that the party leadership and the presidential candidate cannot originate from the same region, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, the chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, demanded the resignation of the national chairman.
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He declared, “He (Ayu) has to keep the promise he made before we chose the presidential candidate. He must leave; he must carry out his obligation. The BoT chairman must be from the north, as must the deputy national chairman and the presidential candidate. Other areas will feel left behind.
“How do we campaign for the people? The election is based on interest, how do we preach to them? Should we tell them when the presidential candidate wins things will normalize? Is that what we are going to preach to the people?’’
Furthermore, according to Kawor, the power blocs’ pursuit of equity, justice, and fair play should be taken into consideration.
We don’t have various power blocs, he said; rather, they are people who want equity and fairness, which forms the basis of the party. How are we safeguarded as a zone, and how are our interests safeguarded? That’s all we’re asking for, right? Therefore, I don’t think we’ll have a power bloc until these concerns are resolved because the PDP is a single party.
However, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, the acting chairman of the Osun PDP, argued that Ayu should not be forced to resign—at least not at this time, when the party was gearing up for a general election.
There is no use in requesting Dr. Ayu’s resignation just months before the presidential election, Adekunle remarked. My opinion is to maintain the current situation and implement reforms following the 2023 elections.
Okoroafor Okorie, the PDP’s Ebonyi State Chairman, said that the best course of action was for “someone to make a sacrifice by stepping down from his position which offers a balance in the leadership of the party.”
However, the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, stated that the situation was best settled at a roundtable in addition to appeasing the Rivers State governor, addressing through his director of press, Nathaniel Nkurr.
He continued, “All the blocs must agree to work together as a party; the leadership should sit down and address the issue. The governor’s view is that the party leadership will sit down and resolve the crisis in the party, calling for the pacification of the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.
Julius Akinsola, the chairman of the Lagos State PDP, insisted that to address the problems, an inclusive strategy was required.
