By Abraham Olatunbosun
Ahead Thursday’s scheduled meeting of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC), there were indications Wednesday night that the demand by Governor Wike’s group for the resignation of National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu remains high on their agenda.
Already, there are indications that the Party’s BoT chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin may not be enough.
Naija News reports that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has called on the national chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, The call for Ayu’s resignation is predicated on the need achieve of positions between the north and the south.
As it stands today, the north holds the party’s presidential ticket, national chairman, BoT chairman, among others.
Wike and his allies, who have lamented the sidelining of the south in major positions of the party, had demanded Ayu’s resignation, amongst others, for the PDP to have peace.
Angered by calls for his resignation, Senator Ayu stated that those who want him out of office “are children.”
According to Naija News, Ayu, who had in 2021 said he would resign as PDP national chairman if a northerner became the party’s presidential candidate, has stayed put despite the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate from Adamawa (north-east).
Jibrin hails from Nasarawa (north-central), and Ayu is from Benue (north-central).
Sources have disclosed to The Cable that Jibrin, who took over from Haliru Bello as BoT in 2016, is set to resign from his position.
Sources close to the BoT chairman said that Jibrin has already briefed senior members of the party on his decision to quit.
He said it is in the best interest of the party since there are complaints of regional lop-sidedness,” one of the sources said.
It was gathered that some of the stakeholders welcomed Jibrin’s decision but also insisted that Ayu should resign from his position too “in the interest of equity.”
The stakeholders have also demanded that Atiku Abubakar commit to staying in office for one term if elected president.
“The stakeholders said now that President Muhammadu Buhari has been in office for eight years, it would not make sense for power to be in the north for another eight years,” another source said.
The Battle line
Meanwhile, some members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) have accused Senator Ayu of failing to disclose that he got money from some presidential aspirants for the convention in May.
According to TheCable, a national officer who attended the meeting said many NWC members are unhappy that Ayu called aggrieved members of the party “children” amid peace efforts.
Some senior party members also believe Ayu mishandled his position by hailing Aminu Tambuwal as the “hero of the convention” for withdrawing for Atiku.
“It is the view of stakeholders that Ayu showed his bias openly,” the officer said.
