PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has urged the group of party leaders loyal to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to reconsider their decision to quit party’s presidential campaign council due to the continued stay in office of the national chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu.
Members of the group, which has consistently demanded that Ayu step aside as compromise over a raging faceoff, rose from a meeting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday night rejecting their inclusion in the party’s presidential campaign committee (PCC) because the embattled PDP chairman had ignored their demand that he steps aside.
A former national deputy chairman of the party, Chief Bode George, read the resolution at the end of meeting, which affirmed that their position in the campaign council is untenable with Ayu refusing to resign.
The meeting was attended by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike; his Oyo State colleague, Seyi Makinde; former governors, including Jonah Jang, Olusegun Mimiko, Ibrahim Dankwambo and Donald Duke.
Others party elders present were Professor Jerry Gana, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), Senator Garba Lado, Prince Chibudum Nwuche, Caleb Mutfwang, Senator Sandey Onor, Senator Mao Ohuabunna, Chief Dan Orbih, Hon. David Emmanuel Obugadu, Honourable Mohammed Maifada, Senator Suleiman Nozif, Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje, Honourable Bayo Lawal, Hononourable Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, Senator Olaka Nwogu, Moham- med Jamiu, among others.
But in a spontaneous reaction to the action of the Wike group, Atiku reiterated that any attempt to remove Ayu as party chairman must follow the laid down procedure in PDP Constitution, pointing out that the PDP National Executive Committee, which should initiate the process, has already passed a vote of confidence in Ayu.
In a statement entitled: “Let us join hands and move on with the task of nation building”, personally signed by him, the former vice president maintained that he could not force the embattled party boss to resign. While urging the Wike group, to reconsider its stance, Atiku noted that the nation is currently faced with a multidimensional crisis that requires all hands to be on deck.
The statement read: “Early this morning, my attention was drawn to a news clip in which several very senior and influential members of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), addressed the press and, amongst other things, declared that they are withdrawing, forthwith, from the Presidential Campaign Coun- cil set up by our party to judiciously plan and prosecute the general elections set to hold in February and March 2023, on the one hand; and reiterated their earlier calls for the resignation or removal from office of the national chairman of our party, Senator Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, on the other hand.
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“The people that addressed the press must have their reasons for withdrawing from the Presidential Campaign Council, and I will not speculate as to what those reasons may be.
“Personally, I am quite sur- prised with this withdrawal because, as I have been informed by officials of our party, apart from the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, all the remaining states of the federation submitted names of people who they wanted included in the Presidential Campaign Council.
“On the calls for the resignation or removal from office of our national chairman, however, I must reiterate what I have said severally in public and in private; the decision for Dr Iyorchia Ayu to resign from office is personal to Dr Ayu and, neither I nor anyone else can make that decision for him.
“As to the calls for the re- moval of Ayu from office, however, I will state that, as a committed democrat and firm believer in the rule of law and democratic tenets, and our party being one set up, organised and regulated by law and our constitution, it is my absolute belief that everything that we do in our party must be done in accordance with, and conformity to, the law and our constitution.
“If Dr Ayu is to be removed from office, it must be done in accordance with the laws that set out the basis for such removal. In any event, you will all recall that the very body that is empowered by law to initiate this removal from office, has already passed a vote of confidence in him.
“Now, our nation is currently in the throes of a multidimensional crisis encompassing insecurity, eco- nomic meltdown, disunity and mutual mistrust and educational dislocations, to mention a few.
“I have a plan to address these issues and I have, graciously, been given the ticket to lead our great party in next year’s presidential elections, with the singular mandate to come and lead the efforts to cure these ills. It is in this light that I have reached out to every single member of our great party to join me in the massive undertaking required to reset the ship of state, and help rebuild our country.
“Every single person who loves this country, as I do, is needed for the arduous tasks that face us ahead as a nation, and this includes every member of the PDP. And it is my fervent hope and prayer that every man and woman of goodwill will join hands with us to help rebuild and reposition our beloved country.
“In this light, therefore, I will urge those members of our party that have stated their resolve to withdraw from the Presidential Campaign Council to have a rethink, retrace their steps, and join us in these efforts.
“The above notwithstanding, and for the sake of our country, our children, and those yet unborn, we must not, for one minute, shirk in our responsibilities to rebuild this beloved country of ours.
“Accordingly, we must forge on with the task and the mandate that we have been bestowed with. It is time, therefore, to move on with the formidable tasks of nation building ahead of us. “May God guide us all, and may God soothe our great party, and our dear country.”
Earlier, in its resolution presented by George, the Wike group maintained that Ayu must go to allow an acting national chairman of a southern extraction to emerge and lead the PDP on the campaign. “We resolved that we are deeply concerned by the division in our party. We are aware that over the years our party has developed conflict resolution mechanisms that guarantee inclusiveness.
“The published presidential campaign council list translates to putting the cart before the horse.”
The party chieftains maintained that the pertinent issue remains the resolution of the leadership by resignation of Ayu as the national chairman of the party “for an acting Chairman of the Southern Nigerian extraction to emerge and lead the party on the national campaign.”
“Consequently, we resolve not to participate in the campaign council in whatever capacity until the resignation of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu,” he added.
Also speaking, a former Plateau State governor, Senator Jonah Jang, claimed that Ayu is a biased referee who favoured one side in a football game. He accused the party boss of compromising the May 28 and 29 presidential primaries of the party through his conduct.
Jang said: “For a national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu to go and embrace Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tanbuwal, calling him the hero of the convention, meant that there was a private arrangement that was done with Tambuwal to shortchange other contestants, including Governor Wike.
“Here was a referee, who helped one of his sides to score a goal and then blew the whistle. This is not what we formed the PDP to do for Nigerians. Therefore, we unequivocally ask that Ayu must step down.”
On his part, a former Minister of Information, Professor Gana, said if the party is interested in restructuring Nigeria, it should have the courage to restructure itself. Gana explained that the group’s support for Wike is for the sake of equity and justice in the party, saying that it is neither because he lost the presidential primary nor because he was not chosen as the vice-presidential running mate.
He stated: “You cannot build on a faulty foundation. This call for the chairman to step down or resign is not because any of us is aggrieved but because we believe it is important to ensure a just, fair, principled and constitutional structure for the party.
“If we want to restructure Nigeria, we should have the courage to restructure our party.”
In his remark, Governor Makinde expressed the hope that those concerned will listen to the group and act accordingly, saying: “We hope that the powers that be listen to the voice of reason and do the needful.”
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