PDP organs begin meetings to determine Ayu’s fate

The various organs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are meeting this week to push for the resolution of the crisis arising from the selection of the vice presidential candidate, which has since set the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his group.

The fate of the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, is expected to top the list of the agenda.

Since Atiku announced Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his choice for the post, he has faced resistance from the Wike who had hoped to be picked having emerged first runner-up in the primary that produced the presidential candidate.

The Rivers governor had also been overwhelmingly endorsed by a committee set up to help Atiku to arrive at a suitable running mate only for him to jettison its report.

His group blames Ayu for the turn of events in the running mate selection process.

Since Okowa’s presentation as the vice-presidential candidate, the party organs had been unable to meet because of the disagreement that followed Atiku’s choice

Wike and his major allies including Governors Sam Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Uguanyi (Enugu), had since refrained from working with the party or the presidential candidate in preparation for the 2023 General elections.

Among the conditions, they have laid out to work with the former vice president is the replacement of the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, to create a geographical balance in its organogram.

The National Caucus of the party was scheduled to meet on Wednesday while meetings of its Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Committee (NEC) were slated for Thursday.

With the 2023 election edging closer, many party stakeholders are pressing for a quick resolution of the tiff with Wike’s camp even if the party boss had to be sacrificed.

Among the most potent voices is the PDP BoT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, who has already thrown his weight behind the move to restructure the party offices to reflect diversity as he posited that it is unfair for both the presidential candidate of the party and its national chairman to come from the same zone.

“To tell the truth, it will not be fair for the president of Nigeria to be from the north, the chairman of the party from the north and the BoT chairman from the north,” Jibrin argued.

However, despite the sustained pressure from the Wike group for Ayu to resign, the party boss cannot do so unless it becomes a decision of the party hierarchy.

The former Senate president had indeed alluded to this before the national convention of the party that produced former vice president Atiku, noting at the time that should the candidate emerge from the north, which is his own zone, he would step aside from his post if the party so decides.

Many party stakeholders have since assumed that he should resign since the presidential candidate comes from the same zone as himself to create the necessary balance, especially as the north also holds the post of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).

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