After the PDP chapters in the states of Ogun, Osun, and Ondo declared their support for the party’s embattled national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, and the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the arrow heads of the Ayu Must Go campaign in the South West region of the PDP appear to be losing the plot.
The only states in the zone still supporting the campaign are Lagos, Ekiti, and Oyo.
Chief Olabode George, a former deputy national chairman of the party, maintained Monday that Ayu had no choice but to retire.
Before the presidential election campaign, he said, the PDP constitution should even, if necessary, be suspended because otherwise, the party would struggle to persuade the South West, in particular, to support its candidate.
Together with Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, George, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party Taofeek Arapaja agree that Ayu must step down in order to keep his pre-convention promise.
Yesterday, it was learned that some PDP leaders in the South West are moving through with their plot to oust Ayu and replace him with one of their own.
However, the party’s Ondo State chapter yesterday passed a vote of confidence in the national chairman, saying that its top goal right now was to ensure that its candidate won the elections held the next year.
The choice was made shortly after the Osun State chapter issued a statement disputing Makinde’s assertion from earlier in the day that the South West zone of the party wanted Ayu removed.
It claimed that the PDP in the South West had never met and made such a decision.
Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, the Ondo State PDP’s publicity secretary, issued a statement claiming that the party was not involved in the plot to oust Ayu from office, which was being promoted in the zone by Makinde and Mimiko. The priority of the party in the state is to ensure that the PDP wins the upcoming election, he added.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ondo State Chapter is committed to victory at the general elections in 2023,” he said.
He added: “Against this background, Ondo State PDP aligns itself completely with the 97th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting Resolutions which passed a vote of confidence on Senator Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman and the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party.
“We unconditionally support the presidential candidate of our party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who possesses the experience and capacity to lead Nigeria to the destination of our dreams. Our focus and priority at this critical time is victory at the polls. And we shall commit all our energies to ensuring victory.”
Meanwhile, the Osun State chapter said through its caretaker chairman, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, that it was “not part of any revolt against the national leadership of the PDP.
“We remain guided and loyal to the PDP Constitution which stipulates processes for leadership election and removal. As a party with a democratic tradition, we see no justification for any anti-democratic agitation to torpedo the ship of the party at this very critical stage of national campaigns and pre-election preparation.
“Dr Ayu, who was duly elected at a properly constituted National Convention with a four-year mandate, also has the vote of confidence of the party’s National Executive Committee, the party’s highest decision-making organ.
“Our party Chairman is a principled leader whose integrity is second to none. We consequently disagree with any move to undermine the office of the National Chairman.
“We commend the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for his steadfastness and commitment to upholding the party’s constitution. His response in support of the party’s constitution reassured all that the PDP is a party of law and due process.
“We also use this medium too, on behalf of our teeming members, to apologise to members of the PDP National Working Committee and other leaders over the embarrassment the resignation call may have caused them.
“The occasion was a solemn one where party loyalists gathered to host our national leaders and demonstrate our preparedness for the task ahead. It was not an avenue for factional rhetoric.
“While reaffirming our passion to mobilise for the PDP’s victory in the forthcoming general election, we restate our resolve to embrace all that is constitutional, unifying, and contributory to the success of the party and its leadership.
“We stand to be counted all the time as agents of electoral success without tolerance for estranged antics.”
The Ogun State chapter yesterday entered the debate on Ayu’s side, arguing that the timing of requests for his resignation was poor.
Akinloye Bankole, the publicity secretary, separated the chapter from Makinde’s statement and declared that “there was no prior meeting or agreement relating to such pronouncement.”
“Ogun PDP strongly insists that the sanctity of the party constitution cannot be slaughtered on the altar of narrow individuals’ whims and caprices,” Bankole pointed out.
Chief Olabode George, however, stated Wednesday that Ayu had no alternative but to resign from his position as national chairman for the benefit of the PDP as a whole.
In order to facilitate the resignation of the chairman and his replacement by a southerner, he said that the party may even ignore its constitution, just as it had done when it abandoned its practice of rotating the president between the north and the south.
He was replying to Atiku Abubakar’s recent claim that the PDP constitution needed to be changed in order for Ayu to depart.
In an interview with Arise Television, George, said: ““Our party constitution explicitly states that there would be zoning and rotation of elective offices and party offices. If we had stuck rigidly to that, there was no chance for Atiku to have emerged.
“When it suits you can refer to the constitution and when it does not then you back away from the constitution.
“If we can call off zoning and accept the presidential candidate to come from any zone, which is against our constitution, so what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Allow us for this period.”
On the opposition to the Ayu-Must-Go campaign, he said: “Of course, we will have one or two dissenting voices but facts are facts and fiction is fiction.
“The founding fathers of our party gathered together in 1998 and intentionally looked at the problems that had beset Nigeria and came out with a suggested solution that we should divide Nigeria into six geopolitical zones because, in the First Republic, the majority tribes had their way. The minority tribes were just onlookers; same in the north and same in the south.
“That created bad friction that led us to all kinds of coups and counter-coups and civil war and the incursion of the military into government. We took all of those into consideration and came out with a solution of dividing Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.
“There are six top positions in the country. The positions are the presidency, vice presidency, senate presidency, speakership, Secretary to the government, and National chairman of the party. Six zones and six positions and so every zone will go home with one of these top positions. In other words, you have removed the friction.
“And it was agreed that after every eight years, all the three top positions in the north will come down to the south and vice versa. And if you look at it right now, number one in our party is the presidency, and number six is the party chairmanship position and both cannot come from the same geopolitical zone.
“Now, here we are. Some people come into the picture and advocated that there was no need to have zoning anymore and this shocked me. In fact, the need to have zoning now is more important than in 1998/1999. Maybe some of these people don’t understand the concept that led to the thought processes of our founding fathers. Because it is an unwritten law it is being up for debate and I hope we have the opportunity to put it down in writing and everybody will be able to read it.
“Those saying they don’t believe in it (zoning) and don’t want it are saying that because they don’t understand what brought it about. But I am talking because I was part of the system from the very beginning and we have a saying from my part of the world that when you have old people in any association, they (old people) always make sure they correct the mistakes of the young ones, and I am trying to refer us to that concept (zoning) that was established and brought about sanity to the nation.
“Now that we are trying to manoeuvre the concept that came from us to suit certain purposes and personal ambitions, it is going to drive us to the canvass and that is what I am saying.
“We are not asking Ayu that he should be zoned out or forced to resign. We are asking for this in the sense of oneness and inclusivity for him to throw in the towel and let us balance the top positions. We are going to campaign in my zone and we want our party to win. If it is not going to affect the party, I won’t bother.”
The Nation gathered that the decision to work toward a South West national chairman was taken during the week as a fall out of the stakeholders’ meeting hosted by Governor Makinde in Ibadan last Wednesday.
The meeting reviewed the various positions canvassed by Makinde, Atiku and other stakeholders at the presidential candidate’s interactive session and concluded that it was in the interest of the zone for Ayu to quit.
A source at the meeting told our correspondent that some prominent leaders of the party were displeased with Atiku for insisting that Ayu should remain in office.
Said a source: “One of the things that informed our new position is the claim by Atiku that nothing can be done to alter the present composition of the NWC.
“This thing has been done before. Vincent Ogbulafor from the south was eased out for a northerner to take over at a point in the history of our party. Atiku was a member of the party then too. Why is he against the much needed reordering of the NWC to allow a southerner take the chairman’s seat?
“Our resolve is that the South West deserves the position and the best time is now. There is no better time to give the chairmanship to the South West than now.”
The Nation also gathered that chieftains of the party at the parley kicked against suggestions that the position of director general of the Atiku presidential Campaign Council might be offered to the zone as a way of accommodating it in the scheme of things.
The position has since been given to Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
“We didn’t get the presidential ticket. We were not considered for the vice presidential ticket too. It is not out of place for us to position ourselves for the national chairmanship,” a former Zonal chairman of the party told our correspondent yesterday.
A chieftain of the party from Lagos State, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, said it was not wrong for the leaders of the zone to desire the national chairmanship.
According to the source, it is uncertain that Senator Ayu will remain in office much longer. “Atiku and his team are moving round to gauge the mood of party leaders and members. They were in Ibadan during the week and they heard what the people said about the need to restructure the party so that we can win election and restructure the country. Atiku is a politician and he will do the needful soon.
“Come to think of it, what are we going to campaign with here in the South West? We have not been considered for anything worthwhile in the party’s structure. What will we tell our people we gained or hope to gain in the PDP for which they should leave Tinubu and vote Atiku?
“We have thought of all these and resolved to make a bid for the national chairmanship upon our conviction that it is truly unfair to have both the presidential candidate and National chairman of our party from the same zone. It is not a plot as you put it but a demand, a rightful one at that,” he explained.
It was gathered that the meeting called to discuss the plan was adjourned to be reconvened soon. “We met to discuss what we consider the interest of the zone ahead of the 2023 general elections. As it is, we have reached some agreement and we are to meet again to put modalities in motion for the implementation of our decisions.
“I can tell you that for once, irrespective of interests and groupings, we are united in our resolve to demand for more recognition for out zone within the emerging structure of the PDP.
“I can also tell you that we are more united than ever before in our determination to ensure the victory of our party next year,” another source said.
“It is just that the current circumstance is forcing more people to realise the precarious situation our zone has found itself in the scheme of things within PDP. Our leaders have been speaking about this for some time now. But more action is now being considered given the current leadership crisis rocking our party,” a former deputy governor said.
Atiku had urged restraint in response to Makinde’s demand for Ayu’s resignation during the Ibadan interactive session, stating that the party could not afford to take any actions that would be “unconstitutional” at such a crucial moment.
As the candidate and chairman cannot be from the same bloc region, Makinde had urged that Ayu resign. Ayu’s resignation, according to Southwest PDP stakeholders, should serve as the starting point for restructuring and unification, the governor said, adding that if the controversy caused by the distribution of positions was not resolved before the 2018 elections, the South West would continue to foster a sense of exclusion.
He said: “Well, the issue is we must practice what we preach. If we want to restructure Nigeria, we must have the willingness to do what is right to bring inclusivity into PDP.
‘If we want to unify Nigeria, we must unify PDP first. If we want a government of national unity, it must reflect in the PDP. Our presidential candidate is from the North East. Our national chairman is from North Central. The Director-General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Aminu Tambuwal, is from the North West. So, the PDP national chairman should step down.
“Everything that PDP stands for in terms of unifying this country, in terms of restructuring the country, in terms of looking at a government of national unity, must be reflected in PDP moving towards the election.
“We must resolve the issue of what we have in the face of Nigerians by asking the national chairman to step down so that the PDP in the southern part of the country can have a sense of belonging.
“Once the election is won, there are things that you can do for us. But before the elections, the South West PDP wants a situation where your message to Nigerians can resonate and the only way that can happen is the face of PDP.”
Sen. Ademola Adeleke, the incoming governor of Osun State, former deputy governor of Ekiti State Abiodun Olujimi, who spoke on behalf of the PDP National Assembly members, and Soji Adagunodo, the party’s national vice chairman for the South West, were among the other speakers at the event. They all voiced faith in Atiku’s skill and capacity to bring back Nigeria’s lost pride.
All of the speakers agreed that Atiku would be able to turn around the nation’s fortunes if elected, but the discussion about Ayu’s future remained the contentious topic of the meeting, with several speakers demanding for his dismissal.
In response to Makinde, Atiku stated that if Ayu must resign, then the proper procedures must be followed. According to him, the request for a new National Working Committee (NWC) for the party is not impractical, but it must be made after the party’s charter has been changed to suit the request.
“The PDP is the oldest political party in Nigeria since the return of democracy and even before then. It is a party that 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.
“There is nothing any individual can do to change the outlook of the National Working Committee of the PDP. The PDP is a party 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.”
The presidential candidate claims that if the PDP takes such arbitrary action against itself, Nigerians won’t trust it to govern according to the principles of the rule of law.
The PDP presidential candidate met with stakeholders at the Ibadan parley to discuss strategies for running in and winning the 2023 presidential election. Leaders of the PDP from all six states in the geopolitical zone attended. At the meeting were Governor Bala Mohammad of Bauchi State, Amb. Taofeek Arapaja, Deputy National Chairman of the party in the South, Senator Dino Melaye, and Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former governor of Osun State, Segun Mimiko, a former governor of Ondo State, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Ademola Adeleke, a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, and PDP National Vice Chairman (Southwest) Taofeek Arapaja were among the Southwest PDP officials present.
