Since the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the Presidential candidate for the 2023 Presidential election, there has been a heightened call for the National Chairman of Nigeria`s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, to resign from his position, and the insistence is hinged basically on morals.
The PDP, a party arguably many look up to as the only viable party that could wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is ironically approaching a make or Mar the 2023 general elections as a fragmented Party, and as a matter of fact, Mr. Ayu has been a major contributor to the internal imbroglio threatening to throw a spanner in the wheel driving it to a successful outing in 2023. But let’s leave that for another discourse.
In an interview conducted far before the PDP primaries in Abuja, Senator Ayu agreed that if the presidential candidate emerges from the North, he would give way for the Chairman of the Party to be zoned to the South.
Our investigation revealed that arriving at Ayu as the consensus candidate for the chairmanship position was not an easy task and he was made to sign an undertaking that his emergence will not preclude anybody from any of the three zones from contesting the 2023 presidential election.
According to sources, part of the agreement was that if the candidate eventually emerge from the North, Ayu will resign and work for the candidate as an ordinary member of the Party. So what is stopping him from honouring that agreement now Atiku from the North has emerged? Morally, Ayu ought not to be prompted to leave office as a man who was brought in with the mantra of “Mr. Integrity” and for the sake of equity, fair play, justice, and for his own image sake, he should have since left so that a chosen Southern candidate can emerge.
In his acceptance speech, Ayu promised to take PDP to its winning ways, adding that after the convention they will work to “rebuild the Party to take over power to rebuild the country”. He added that “we intend to work together with all the leaders, not only in the North but across the country to reposition this country for the next generation of all Nigerians.”
These seem to be empty words; Ayu has succeeded in bringing more rifts into PDP than he met it. First, he did the unthinkable by openly thanking Governor Tambuwal for being “the game changer” during the PDP primaries. This unfortunate partisanship from the Chairman of the Party didn’t go down well with most party members, especially as it negated his acceptance speech where he promised to work with all leaders, not only those from the North.
These apart, most states are faced with an internal crisis within the Party and all fingers are pointing to Ayu allegedly for pecuniary gains. Edo, Delta, Kano, and Imo States are among those that are crisis-ridden, especially from the fallout of primaries where He sided with the money bags. Mr. Deji Adeyanju accused him of turning the Party Headquarters into a Bureau Du Change.
The PDP should do everything within its powers to ensure that the party is not portrayed as a northern Party, especially where the BOT Chairman, the National Chairman, and the Presidential Candidate are all from the North. This does not represent the true meaning of federal character which takes into cognisance our diversity, equality and plurality. This is exactly why APC Muslim/Muslim is faced with serious backlashes, PDP cannot afford the same. A Southern National Chairman will balance the idea and equation about diversity.
On this basis, Senator Ayu must leave now to pave way for an experienced Southern Chairman who will be above the mundane, parochial, and divide-and-rule type of politics Ayu has introduced into PDP.
There is no gainsaying that the Party needs genuine reconciliation if it is ready to win the 2023 general elections. Those who are aggrieved within the Party are not pushovers. PDP needs a unifier chairman who will be willing to sacrifice for the Party.
It is on this premise that I wish to enjoin those leaders who will be holding the all-important meeting with the BOT Chairman on Wednesday to hold on to the fact that all negotiations must start and end up with Ayu`s resignation.