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Tag: Iyorchia Ayu

  • Ayu’s ouster calls and Atiku’s bitter truth to Wike – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Ayu’s ouster calls and Atiku’s bitter truth to Wike – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    The proverbial chicken may’ve come home to roost for Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, as the Peoples Democratic Party has named a Presidential Campaign Council, without a major role assigned to him.

    And as the clearest indication yet, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that the National Chairman Iyorcha Ayu could only be removed in compliance with the party’s constitution.

    Going by the timeframe for the 2023 general election, with the presidential on February 25, that entails convening a National Convention to amend the PDP constitution.

    A key demand by Wike and his allies is the resignation of Dr Ayu, a northerner from Benue State in North Central (Middle Belt), for a southerner to assume the post.

    To Wike, the northern occupation of the top positions in the PDP: Presidential Candidate, National Chairman and Chairman of Board of Trustees, violates the principles of equity, fairness and balance, and the laws guiding the PDP.

    Wike says Ayu stepping aside accords with a reported agreement prior to the May 2022 primaries, stipulating that Ayu would vacate his position should the North produce PDP’s presidential candidate. And Ayu’s refused to resign.

    Perhaps, realising his secured position – even as demand for his ouster hasn’t simmered – Ayu’s jetted out of the country for a two-week holiday for a “deserved rest.”

    And why not! Against the run of play for a Southern presidency in the 2023, Ayu delivered the PDP ticket to Atiku, and the presidential slot to Northern Nigeria.

    Ayu’s weathered a relentless onslaught by Wike and his backers, to resign his position, mostly on account of his alleged bias against the South during the primaries.

    Having been part of a “plot” to ultimately undercut Wike for his continued “anti-party activities,’ Ayu may’ve been guaranteed that nothing would jeopardise his position. So, he could go on a frolic abroad. But what a perfect timing!

    Ayu’s return to Nigeria will coincide with lifting of the ban on campaigns by Independent National Electoral Commission on September 28 – an inauspicious period for conducting a national convention, to amendment the PDP constitution, to restructure the party, as Wike demands.

    Well, but for his frosty relationship with Atiku and the PDP leadership, the position of Director-General of the party’s campaign council would’ve been Wike’s for the asking.

    Wike’s forfeited the position – and even that of Chairman of the campaign council – to Sokoto State Governor and Chairman of PDP’s Governors’ Forum, Aminu Tambuwal and Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel, respectively, and named a mere Member of the council.

    What’s more! The PDP also appointed Wike’s ally and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde as Vice Chairman (South) of the campaign council. What message does that relay? Is the carpet being removed from under Wike’s feet?

    For months, though, Wike – and his PDP co-governor backers – has threatened the prospects of Atiku and the PDP at the February-March 2023 elections.

    Since the primaries in which he came second to Atiku – and after Atiku picked Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate – Wike’s predicted failure for Atiku and the PDP unless the party restructures, for Ayu to resign.

    But Ayu hasn’t only refused to step aside for a Southern member of the PDP, but also looks to consolidate his position with a stunning confidence vote on September 7.

    At a meeting of the PDP National Executive Committee, all 397 members passed a vote of confidence in the Ayu-led National Working Committee, “for effectively managing the affairs of the party” since its election in October 2021.

    That vote was a precursor of what would come next should Wike and his allies decline to yield ground in the “Ayu-must-go” campaign that resonated at a stakeholder meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on September 14.

    Host Governor Makinde iterated calls for PDP’s restructuring, and the resignation of Ayu, deploying anecdotes of PDP’s stated resolve to “rescue Nigeria,” and Atiku as “a unifier” who “wants to restructure Nigeria.”

    Makinde, a voice for the South-West zone, said: “Eight years of the All Progressives Congress have left us sharply divided. The issue is, we must practice what we preach. If we want to unify Nigeria, we must unify the PDP first.

    “If we want to restructure Nigeria, we must have the willingness to bring inclusivity to the PDP. Do we have the capacity? The answer is a resounding yes.

    “The message from the South-West PDP is that the South-West is asking that the National Working Committee of the PDP should be restructured. We are asking the national chairman to step down so that the South will be fully included. That is the message.”

    As a rejoinder, Atiku noted that, “as the oldest political party in Nigeria since the return of democracy, and even before then, the PDP has laid-down rules and regulations.”

    “I have been a member of the party since when it was formed, and I am still a member of the party up to the point of what it has grown to become,” Atiku said.

    “There is nothing any individual can do to change the outlook of the National Working Committee of the PDP… where there are laid-down rules and regulations.

    “What Governor Makinde is asking for is possible only when we have amended our party’s constitution. As things stand today, no single individual has the power to tamper with the NWC of the party.

    “Doing so will be illegal and it will be against our rules in the party. Nigerians will not trust us to govern by the tenets of rule of law if we take such arbitrary action against our own party,” Atiku added.

    Atiku’s well-choreographed postulation was to puncture the agitation for PDP’s restructuring, and Ayu’s sack at the start of campaigns for the crucial 2023 elections that the party must win to redeem its losses in 2015 and 2019.

    It’s sweet music to especially Atiku’s traveling delegation that included his Vice Presidential candidate, Dr Okowa; Tambuwal; former Cross River Governor Liyel Imoke; and PDP’s Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum.

    But to Makinde, who spoke the minds of Wike and his allies, and the South-West PDP that’s longed for the post of national chairman, Atiku’s message was bitter. But that’s politics where hard choices are made for survival!

     

    *Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • Lagos PDP plays discordant tunes over S’ West call for Ayu’s resignation

    Lagos PDP plays discordant tunes over S’ West call for Ayu’s resignation

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State on Saturday disagreed with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on his call for the removal of Sen. Iyorchia Ayu as the party’s National Chairman.

    Recall that Makinde and some South West PDP leaders on Wednesday called for Ayu’s resignation at the zone’s stakeholders’ meeting with the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Hakeem Amode, on Saturday,  the Lagos State Chapter of PDP said that it distanced itself from the call for Ayu’s removal because of the potential crisis such removal could plunge the party into.

    Amode said that the chapter believed that PDP had survived as a political  party due to adherence to the constitution of the party and its rules and regulations.

    “As much as we extolled His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, as our leader in the southwest, there was no prior meeting where such agreement was reached with the leadership of the party in Lagos State.

    “The  leadership of the party in Lagos State will like to commend the national leadership of our great party, PDP, in its efforts to rescue the country..

    “We appeal to the amiable leadership of our party in the southwest region to work together to return the Peoples Democratic Party to its glorious days in the administration of the southwest region of the country.

    “Our focus should be directed mainly to encouraging our teeming members to rally round our candidates vying for House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship positions and ensure they win the elections,” Amode said.

    According to him, achieving electoral victory for PDP in Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo and Oyo states  will register  strongly the importance of southwest in the affairs of PDP and Nigeria.

    “Considering our position as the state in the heart of the coming elections, hosting the APC presidential candidate and being a preferred opposition party to win the election, Lagos State PDP cannot afford a disunited regional leadership.

    “We appeal to individuals who view the removal of the National Chairman as a way to resolve to the internal crisis rocking the party to have a rethink and respect for the constitution of the party.

    “We should see the need to form a solidly viable alliance that can guarantee our party’s victory in the next general elections,” Amode said.

    The PDP was hit by crisis after Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerged the party’s Presidential Candidate for the 2023 General Elections.

    Some PDP governors and leaders are insisting that, for fairness,  northern Nigeria should not hold both the party’s presidential ticket and chairmanship position.

    Leading in the struggle for resignation of Ayu, who is from the North Central,  is Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers and other leaders from southern Nigeria.

    The call for Ayu’s resignation was strongly made by some South West PDP leaders led by Makinde, on Wednesday, when Atiku met with leaders from the zone ahead of the commencement of 2023 General Elections campaign, on Sept. 28.

  • South must produce PDP chairman – Former deputy chairman

    South must produce PDP chairman – Former deputy chairman

    Olabode George, a former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called for the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, stating that the present arrangement in the party which has the presidential and national chairman positions filled by persons from the north cannot continue to stand.

    George, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, said Ayu’s refusal to resign sends a message to members of the PDP in the South that they don’t matter.

    He said, “In May this year, we elected our presidential candidate in the person of Atiku Abubakar, setting aside the principle of rotation as enshrined in the constitution of our party in the interest of peace and unity of our party. Today, we are in a situation in which our National Chairman is from the same zone as our presidential candidate.

    “Some people are insisting that there is nothing wrong with this present arrangement. Some have argued that this happened during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, where the candidate and the national chairman were from the same zone.

    “Let the truth be told, there are remarkable differences in the scenario then and now. Then we had the leader of the party who was then a sitting president from the South and the candidate was from the North.

    “In addition, the National Chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali, was then on his way out. Today we have no sitting President from our party in Aso Villa so, that argument falls flat. We need to stop playing games and being zombified.

    “Let me summarise the genesis of the current crisis.

    “As envisaged by the founding fathers of our party, there are six top positions in our Country: President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and National Chairman of the party.

    “Presently we are not in government, therefore we only control three of these six positions namely: Presidential, Vice Presidential Candidates and National Chairman.

    “I remember that Dr. Iyorchia Ayu said pointedly that if the Presidential Candidate emerges from the North, he would resign for a new National Chairman to emerge from another zone before the presidential campaign starts.

    “The other three positions are futuristic. It is only when we win the elections that we will fill these positions namely: the Senate President, the Speaker and the Secretary to the Federal Government.

    “As a result of the need to have inclusiveness, oneness and togetherness, it does not make any political sense for the Presidential Candidate and the National Chairman to come from the same zone. Now, we have a situation in which some elders are saying “it does not matter”. Can we go into the election with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from the same zone, leading our National Campaign?

    “This will be an affront, an impunity, and an insult to the electorate and party members from the South.

    “Dr. Ayu promised openly, before the presidential primary in May, to resign, if the Presidential Candidate emerges from the North. So, why has he refused to honour his words? Why is he reneging? What is driving his reluctance not to resign?

    “We are promising Nigerians that when we get to government, every tribe will have a say in government but now, how do we want Nigerians to trust us when we cannot fulfil a simple promise? Our National Chairman made a pledge and in such a short time he has broken the pledge.

    Our party members from the South are now asking the following questions patently:

    “Have we thrown our integrity to the dogs?

    “How will Southern PDP leaders convince their electorate to vote for our candidate when there is no substantial National position in the Southwest?

    “How can we go into the election season with this type of division and expect to win the February 25 presidential election?

    “Unless we are united, unless we have fairness, equity and justice in our system, the party and the country are heading nowhere.

    “I am not a soothsayer, but I have traversed the length and breadth of our country and have learnt so much politically. What I have predicted above will come to pass unless reason prevails and we apply the brake immediately.

    “It was the same myopic and unpatriotic reasoning that led to the collapse of the First and Second Republics.

    “My intervention is about the future of this country because what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

    The PDP chieftain wondered if the North would remain calm if the positions in question were filled by only Southerners.

    He said, “Peradventure, let us reverse the scenario and think of these consequences. What do you think will happen if our Presidential Candidate and the National Chairman come from the South? How do you think our Northern brothers will feel and handle the situation? What is happening now is that many Southerners are feeling alienated, two weeks to the commencement of the presidential campaign.

    “I know that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chairman, Governors’ Forum have resigned but of what importance is this? In our party hierarchy, Chairmen of BoT and Governors’ Forum are not that powerful. They are not even among the top six positions of our Country. They are not important to the present discussion.

    “Let me declare categorically that the positions of Presidential Candidate and National Chairman cannot come from the same zone. Period!”

    George added that the vote of confidence supposedly passed on Ayu and the party’s NWC at the its National Executive Committee meeting could not hold sway because most Southern members of NEC were absent from the meeting.

  • PDP crisis: Atiku gives condition to remove Ayu as National Chairman

    PDP crisis: Atiku gives condition to remove Ayu as National Chairman

    Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said forcing the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu to step down from his position would only be possible if the constitution of the party was amended.

    Atiku disclosed this on Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State at an interactive session with party stakeholders in the South West region, in reaction to the call by the State Governor, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State that it was the position of the party in the South West that Ayu must step down.

    Atiku maintained that the party must do things based on its constitution, rules, procedures and practices.

    Abubakar who was received at the Ibadan airport earlier in the day by the Oyo State deputy governor, Barrister Bayo Lawal, and other top government functionaries, was accompanied by the Vice Presidential candidate and governor of Delta state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state; former governors Babangida Aliyu and Liyel Imoke and Senator Dino Melaye.

    He said as a former ruling party, it was important for the PDP to give the people what they wanted, insisting that the task before the members is for them to ensure victory for the party at their various units.

    He noted that as a founding member of the party he was conversant with its laid down rules and regulations which must be followed fully, stating that there is nothing wrong in removing the National Chairman but must be done in accordance with the constitution of the party

    According to him, “The PDP is the oldest political party in the country and everything to be done must be in accordance with the constitution. The call by Governor Seyi Makinde for the National Chairman is achievable but must be under the constitution, rules, procedures and practices of the party. To do otherwise it means we cannot give the country what the people want.

    “What I know is that we can win in 2023 if we want to. When I took over as the Director General of the campaign council of the party in 2003, we won South West and we can repeat it. The Electoral Act through improved electoral process has ensured no more rigging, so I am imploring all to go back to our electoral units to vote and defend it come 2023.”

    Governor Makinde had in his remarks, said the PDP must restructure itself before it will restructure Nigeria, noting that one of the conditions to restructure the party is for Ayu to resign.

    Makinde while speaking further, explained that the presidential candidate, Atiku is from the Northeast while Ayu is from the North central, insisting that one of the conditions to balance the equation is to choose the National Chairman from the South since the presidential candidate is from the North.

    He said, “We must speak the truth. The truth is that we don’t have any issue either with the party or the candidate. We don’t have any issue in PDP. This is not about individual. Choosing the presidential candidate or vice presidential candidates are issues that are behind us, it has happened, it has happened.

    “The issue is that we must restructure Nigeria if we want unity in Nigeria. But we must restructure PDP itself before we restructure Nigeria. If we want to restructure Nigeria, do we have the capacity, the answer is yes. But the South West PDP is asking the PDP Chairman to resign. The South west PDP is telling the Chairman to step down”.

  • Amid calls for resignation, Iyorchia Ayu jets out of Nigeria

    Amid calls for resignation, Iyorchia Ayu jets out of Nigeria

    The National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, will begin a 14-day trip to Europe on Wednesday.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the PDP Chairman, Simon Imobo-Tswam, made this known in a statement on Tuesday.

    Imobo-Tswam who did not disclose the reason for Ayu’s trip, said the national chairman is expected back in Nigeria by the end of September.

    “While away, the party Deputy Chairman (North), Amb. Iliya Damagun, will act in Ayu’s place. Already, the national chairman has communicated the handover to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” he said.

    Recall the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party  passed a vote of confidence in Ayu on Sept. 8. There have been calls by some members of the party that Ayu should step down as the chairman of the PDP.

    A total of 397 members of the NEC including past national chairmen of the party, the immediate past Vice President of the country, Namadi Sambo, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar among others were accredited for the meeting.

    All the 397 members of the NEC present at the meeting voted in support of Ayu to continue as the chairman of the party.

    The acting Board of Trustees Chairman and a former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, had put it to a voice vote after the House Minority Leader moved a motion for members of the committee to continue to have him as the chairman of the party.

    Meanwhile, at the PDP National Executive Council Meeting today in Abuja, the party further reposed its confidence in Ayu.

  • 2023: Why we picked Okowa over Wike as running mate for Atiku – PDP National Chairman

    2023: Why we picked Okowa over Wike as running mate for Atiku – PDP National Chairman

    National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu has hinted at why the party decided to pick the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa over Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike as running mate for Atiku Abubakar for the 2023 elections.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Ayu gave the hint in his remarks on Tuesday in Abuja at the Northern Christian Youth Assembly Summit, with the theme ‘Unifying Nigeria: The Role of Northern Christian Youths and Women’.

    Speaking, Ayu stress that it was time for Christians to show greater interest in politics, saying: “I do not think God will just come down and answer your prayer, you need to act too, that way, God will help us.

    “For a long time, many people saw politics as something to be left to others, but I am happy that today this narrative has changed, events have made it possible to see that the control of political power is very important.

    “Therefore, it is important that Christians have to rise up, come together and show a greater interest in politics”.

    The PDP National Chairman urged the youths to join parties and be interested in what is happening around them so as not to allow bad leaders take over power and misuse it to affect them, their families and communities negatively.

    He said that Nigerian needed leaders that would attend to the challenges facing the country and assured that Atiku Abubakar, the PDP Presidential candidate, will be the right choice to achieve that. He assured that if given the chance, they would unify the country and enhance national development .

    “We looked around and we thought we have to give him not just a vice president that will assist him, but we did our homework to select a young man who is highly educated, very humble, and who has done very well as a governor in his home state.

    “It is on Okowa’s personal merit he was selected by the party as the vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar. I think Nigeria will be very lucky to have two such people who are committed to development, who are detribalised and who believe in uniting this country,” Ayu said.

    He, therefore, urged the group to support Atiku and mobilise Nigerians to vote for PDP, so as to salvage Nigeria.

    Present at the occasion, the vice presidential and Delta State Governor cautioned against cyber bullying in the name of campaigns ahead of the 2023 elections.

    Okowa made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja at the Northern Christian Youth Assembly Summit, with the theme ‘Unifying Nigeria:The Role of Northern Christian Youths and Women’.

    He said that Nigerians should be allowed to use the cyber space to express their choices ahead of the 2023 general elections.

    “We are beginning to see bullying in the cyber space of our country, I think that everybody should have his space, time, to be able to think, make comments without being bullied,” he said.

    According to him, what is important in the build up to the election is for Nigerians not to act on emotions, but be guided with knowledge and build cohesion in electing credible leaders to transform Nigeria.

    “This is the hallmark of those who think and use their brains; when we talk about the future is for the youths, it is actually from today.

    “However, the real truth is, our youths particularly youths leaders must be in position to have a clear understanding of things so that they are able to guide others aright.

    “This is because if you have a leadership that is not able to provide that true leadership of guiding people aright and people begin to think in the wrong way, then you create further problems rather than finding solutions and we all go the wrong path,” Okowa said.

    He commended the group for organising the summit to discuss Nigeria’s challenges and find solutions. Okowa also said that the topic of the event was apt, because it focused on unifying Nigeria.

    He called on Nigerians not to practice politics of religion, but to unite to elect leaders that would build a Nigeria for all where things would work. He assured that if elected, their administration would give priority to education and tackle poverty.

    In his comments, the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Rev. Marcus Ibrahim, who read from Ezekiel 3:16-21, called on youths to guide other citizens to elect credible leaders in 2023.

    Ibrahim called on the Church and youths to be the voice of the voiceless by speaking against evil and injustice in the country.

    “As we enter election year, we should give our people direction, by encouraging them to come out and vote. Youths as watchmen should herald a new dawn in the country as we prepare for 2023 general elections.

    “To me, the winning team is Atiku and Okowa, so we should make noise everywhere because that is one of the strategy God taught Joshua to defeat Jericho,” he said.

    Earlier, the host, Mr Bok Ayuba, former Speaker, Plateau House of Assemby, said the group had agreed to back the PDP candidates, because they believed in their capacity to rescue Nigeria and make things right.

    Ayuba said the group has branches in all local government areas of the country and would go round to mobilise support for the PDP.

    “We will go to every state to mobilise from each local government to have a great number to discuss the way forward ahead of 2023 elections,” he added.

    He urged members of the group “to spread the news and galvanise massive voters’ support to ensure PDP wins in 2023”.

  • PDP crisis: The ‘god’ rejects lesser sacrifice – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    PDP crisis: The ‘god’ rejects lesser sacrifice – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    Thursday, September 8, 2022. Several events occurred in the Peoples Democratic Party that may sustain or resolve its crisis since the May 28-29 primaries to choose the party’s standard bearer for the 2023 general election.

    One, the embattled National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, presided at the meeting of the National Executive Committee at its headquarters in Abuja.

    Two, the NEC passed a vote of confidence in the Ayu-led National Working Committee, “for effectively managing the affairs of the party” since its election in October 2021.

    Three, at a prior meeting, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Dr Walid Jibrin, resigned, offering himself as a “sacrificial lamb” to appease Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, “so the PDP will be united to win the 2023 elections.”

    (Earlier reports of resignation of the Chairman of PDP’s Governors’ Forum and Sokoko State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was debunked by the forum’s Director-General, CID Maduabum, on September 9.)

    Four, Wike swiftly rejected Jibrin’s resignation, as no “god,” worth its name, will accept a lesser sacrifice as propitiation, just to satisfy the desire of “mere mortals.”

    Not even the immediate elevation of former Senate President Adolphus Wabara (a southerner from Abia State in the South-East) from the position of secretary to the chairman of the BoT, could soften Wike’s stance.

    Wike demands Ayu’s ouster as pre-condition for accepting the double political tragedy he’d suffered in his run for the presidency: Loss of the PDP ticket to Atiku, and the running mate to Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

    Aftermath of placing second to Atiku at the primaries,  Wike repeatedly complained about being schemed out by party chieftains, reportedly spearheaded by Ayu.

    Wike’s miffed that, had Tambuwal not stepped down for Atiku at the eleventh hour, he would’ve carried the day, as Atiku polled 371 votes to his 237 votes.

    Surprisingly, Ayu later hailed Tambuwal as “the hero of the convention,” ostensibly for swinging the PDP ticket in favour of both Atiku and the Northern region of Nigeria.

    The press captured Ayu’s “thank-you-visit” to Tambuwal, in company of former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, and former Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha, thus:

    “Ayu, who embraced the Sokoto governor warmly and later shook hands with him, first referred to him as ‘my chairman,’ but Tambuwal jocularly retorted, smiling: ‘I’m a small chairman, sir.’

    “Ayu then shook hands with him (Tambuwal) again and said, ‘You are the hero of the convention,’ a remark to which Tambuwal replied: “Thank you, sir.”

    Atiku also timeously visited Tambuwal on a similar courtesy, thereby feeding into Wike’s narrative of a gang-up against his emergence as the PDP flagbearer.

    Recall, though, that based on the region that’d favour his aspiration for president or vice president, Wike’s ready to change his support for rotation of the presidency to the South to retaining power in the North for the 2023 polls.

    But after losing the ticket to Atiku, Wike doubled down on a Southern presidency, even as he claimed “Emi lo kan” (as per Bola Ahmed Tinubu) for the position of running mate – on account of his second placing at the primaries.

    Then came a June 26 bombshell. Atiku named Dr Okowa as vice presidential candidate, leaving Wike vowing to excise a pound of flesh from the PDP unless it ceded its top positions, including the chairmanship, to the South.

    Wike relies on a gentleman’s agreement reportedly entered into by the leadership of the PDP prior to the primaries: That the national chairman would resign his position if the North produced the presidential candidate of the party.

    As Atiku, a northerner from Adamawa State in the North-East, has secured the PDP ticket, why won’t Ayu, a fellow northerner from Benue State in North Central (Middle Belt), resign or be induced to quit for a southerner?

    This is Wike’s urging, but PDP’s dilemma: How to “force” Ayu out of office barely 10 months into a four-year tenure beginning on October 31, 2021, and as the countdown starts for the crucial 2023 polls about five months away.

    The question: Who’ll win the ego-filled battle of supremacy between Atiku, backed by the PDP leadership, and Wike, supported mostly by the governors from the South-South, South-East, South-West and North Central?

    Wike hasn’t shown any inclination to back down, or shift ground, even as the chair of the PDP BoT has been taken up by a southerner, which should fit into Wike’s demands.

    Were Ayu to resign from the national chair, would Wike be satisfied, and not shift the goalpost, to squeeze the PDP for more, even if unmerited political concessions?

    Added to PDP’s worries is Wike’s romance – in Nigeria and overseas – with the presidential candidates and proxies of the All Progressives Congress and the Labour Party.

    Wike glories in such high-profile meetings, especially  when he extends invitations to opposing politicians to flag-off or commission projects executed by his administration.

    The PDP is in a peculiar dire strait, as most of its leaders, and the rank and file think, erroneously, that Wike alone has the “magic wand” to winning the 2023 elections.

    And Wike continues his daily commentaries: That without his asking the people of Rivers to cast their ballots for them, Atiku and the PDP will lose the elections.

    It’s a novel psychological warfare by a “PDP man to the core,” such that even diehard members are less optimistic about victories in the February and March 2023 polls.

    Last Line: A suit is reportedly instituted at a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to dissolve the Ayu-led NWC of the PDP, for alleged improper constitution via a National Convention of October 30 and 31, 2021, where Ayu and 20 Members were elected into the NWC.

    Specifically, the lawsuit seeks to declare “the outcome and all matters, resolutions, decisions and steps, including the election/adoption of the 2nd to 20th Defendants as National Chairman and Members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the 1st Defendant (PDP) as null and void and of no effect whatsoever by reason of it being improperly constituted.”

    The dreaded writ, linked to former PDP Chairman Uche Secondus, can unwittingly settle the current rift in the PDP if judgment is given for a fresh National Convention, and yet upend the party’s calculations for the 2023 elections.

     

    *Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • I won’t accept to be chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum – Makinde

    I won’t accept to be chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum – Makinde

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said he will not accept to be the chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Governor Makinde disclosed this on Saturday in Abia State where he commissioned two road projects.

    Makinde was reacting to reports that he was appointed the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, following the resignation of the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal from the position.

    The Oyo State Governor said he was not aware of the appointment. Although Governor Tambuwal has since denied the reports of his resignation.

    Makinde stressed that he was not informed by the party’s national leadership and that he got to know about it through social media.

    He queried his purported appointment, saying that he was not even the right person to take the reins of leadership of the PDP body of governors should the chairman resign.

    According to him, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who was the deputy chairman of the forum, was the right person to take over from Tambuwal and not him.

    “Even if they give it to me, I will not accept it because there must be an order. Ikpeazu is the deputy chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

    “If the chairman resigns, the deputy chairman will take over the position. This is how to have an order in the process,” he said.

    The governor also pointed out that occupying the chairmanship position of the forum was “not what we are fighting for.”

    Given the rancour in the PDP, the Oyo State governor said it would be impossible for the party to restructure Nigeria if it could not restructure itself.

    “We are saying that if the PDP has promised to restructure Nigeria and we can’t restructure the party, then we are not ready to restructure Nigeria”, he said.

    Makinde is one of the governors in the camp of Rivers State Governor Nyesome Wike, calling for balancing party positions between the northern and southern parts of the country as stipulated in the PDP constitution.

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom; Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Governor Ikpeazu are also members of the Wike camp.

    The Wike camp has vowed never to lose its guard until the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, resigned from his position for a southerner to take over.

  • PDP NEC set to meet on Thursday to discuss Ayu’s removal

    PDP NEC set to meet on Thursday to discuss Ayu’s removal

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Executive Committee members are divided over the clamour for the removal of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

    The PDP has fixed a meeting for Thursday, 8th June in Abuja to discuss salient issues including Iyorchia Ayu’s removal.

    Some NEC members from the South argued that Ayu’s removal was the only way out of the lingering crisis confronting the party, the chairman’s supporters said Ayu would not step aside at this critical time when the PDP was preparing for the election.

    The emergence of Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as Vice presidential candidate of the party has thrown the PDP into crisis as some members wanted Rivers state governor to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    Meanwhile, the loyalists of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike had been demanding Ayu’s resignation, stating that the presidential candidate should not hail from the same region as the party chairman; and the Board of Trustees chairman.

    Though the PDP set up a panel to resolve the crisis, Wike, supported by three other governors, had continued to insist on Ayu’s removal.

    Resisting the pressure to leave office, the party chair vowed to stay till the end of his four-year tenure. He also dismissed those demanding his removal as youngsters who had little knowledge about the formation of the PDP.

  • 2023: Why Dino Melaye, Ayu, members of PDP NWC should be arrested now – Fani-Kayode

    2023: Why Dino Melaye, Ayu, members of PDP NWC should be arrested now – Fani-Kayode

    Former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has called for the arrest of Dino Melaye, who is the spokesman of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign organization.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Fani-Kayode also called for the arrest of the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

    In a statement released on Sunday, the former Aviation Minister averred that Melaye, Ayu and members of the PDP NWC should be arrested immediately for recent comments made by the Kogi former Senator.

    Fani-Kayode refers to this comment: “All the PDP Governors spent money at our party’s Convention to get Ayu elected as Nat. Chairman” reportedly made by Melaye.

    “This is a grave and serious matter. It is a public confession of a criminal offence made by a senior figure within the PDP cabal that committed the said offence. It follows that Ayu’s election was a product of corruption and criminality and so was Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s as their party’s presidential flagbearer at a later convention which was conducted by him,” he stated.

    Fani-Kayode in the statement went further to explain the nature of the criminality while stressing that with the supposed confession of Melaye, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the PDP are “illegal, illegitimate, bogus… fake…”

    The statement reads in full: “Senator Dino Melaye, the spokesman of the Atiku Abubakar PCO, said, “All the PDP Governors spent money at our party’s National Convention to get Senator Iyorcha Ayu elected as National Chairman”.

    “This is a grave and serious matter. It is a public confession of a criminal offence made by a senior figure within the PDP cabal that committed the said offence.

    “It follows that Ayu’s election was a product of corruption and criminality and so was Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s as their party’s presidential flagbearer at a later convention which was conducted by him.

    “A National Chairman that is a product of corruption and that was elected as a consequence of financial inducements, monetary gifts and the illegal use of public funds cannot be deemed as being legitimate and neither can he conduct a legitimate convention for a presidential flagbearer.

    “Ayu and his entire NWC together with the PDPs Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates are illegal, illegitimate, bogus, fake and repugnant products of cash-induced and cash and carry elections which, according to Melaye, were funded with public funds provided by the PDP Governors.

    “The entire leadership structure of PDP now stand accused and indicted by one of their own.

    “It follows that they are nothing but a party of scammers, carpet-baggers, vote-procurers, petty thieves, pick pockets and yahoo-yahoo criminals whose malevolent disposition and evil operations are shrouded in darkness and secrecy, who behave like Al Capone’s Cosa Nostra and who cannot be trusted with power.

    “I hereby call on the Federal Government and the security agencies to invite Senator Dino Melaye to shed more light on how much each of the PDP Governors gave for Ayu’s “election” and I call on them to arrest and prosecute Iyorcha Ayu and the entire NWC of the PDP for being accomplices to a criminal act, beneficiaries of the crime of corruption and accessories after the fact.

    “I also call on INEC to nullify Ayu’s so-called election as National Chairman and to do same to that of Abubakar Atiku’s who was purportedly elected as the party’s flagbearer.

    “The public confession of Melaye, a leading member of the opposition PDP, who claims to have witnessed these corrupt events and practices during the course of Ayu’s election and who is no less than the spokesman of Atiku’s PCO has changed everything and taken the matter to a new level.

    “Before we only speculated about the rot, rodents and filth that is in the PDP but today we have been provided with the evidence that we need thanks to Dino.

    “By his confession alone it is clear that they have fouled up the whole process, broken the law and proved that they cannot be trusted with power.

    “The individuals concerned must all be disqualified by INEC and their last two party Conventions and everything that was done in both must be declared illegal, null and void.

    “Everyone involved in these illegal acts, subversion of the electoral process, violation of the electoral laws and monstrous crimes, including Ayu, his entire NWC and their presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, must be barred from participating in any way in the coming elections or from running for public office as a consequence of their irresponsible acts and criminal activities and they must be arrested and prosecuted for their disgraceful and corrupt practices.

    “No-one is above the law. If you violate INEC’s rules, violate the provisions of the Electoral Act, break the law and indulge in criminal activities during the conduct of your party conventions there must and will be consequences.

    “If the security agencies do not act on this matter promptly then some of us will have no choice but to take this matter up in court because the actions of the PDP, according to the spokesman of their PCO, have broken the laws of the land. Justice must be served. Shame on them!”