Southwest PDP leaders dissociate from Makinde’s calls for Ayu’s removal

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West region on Saturday, reaffirmed their support for the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, and dissociated from the call for the resignation of Ayu as party Chairman.

This position was reaffirmed by leaders of the party in five of the six states of the region during a press conference held in Lagos, maintaining that there was no justification for the call for the resignation of Ayu, especially when the election is around the corner.

The Spokespersons of the party who stated this during a Press Conference held at the PDP State Secretariat, Lagos, appealed to the leadership and members of the party in the Southwest region to work together and respect the Constitution of our party.

The PDP Spokespersons from the five states aside from Oyo state, which includes, Hakeem Amode, Lagos, Kennedy Peretei, Ondo, Hon. Raphael ‘Wumi Adeyanju, Ekiti and Asiwaju Bankole Akinloye, Ogun, threw their weight behind the National Chairman and passed a vote of confidence on Ayu.

The Publicity Secretaries stated that “On behalf of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) State Chapters in Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos state we the Publicity Secretaries in these states respectively dissociate ourselves from calls for the resignation of Dr Iyorchia Ayu as PDP National Chairman.

“We wish to affirm our faithfulness to the PDP constitution which clearly stipulates the procedure for leadership election and removal. As the only political party that has not changed its name or logo since its establishment in 1998, the party cannot afford to appear unserious.

“We do not see any justification for the resignation of our National Chairman, especially at this very critical stage of preparation for elections.”

The stated further that “Dr Iyorchia Ayu was duly elected at a properly constituted National Convention with a four-year mandate and recently received the vote of confidence of the party’s National Executive Committee, at its 97th meeting in Abuja.

“Our party has championed the sanctity of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended). We must therefore do everything to maintain this sanctity.

“Any action that undermines the spirit of the party’s constitution at this crucial stage can only be considered as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the party’s efforts at winning in the coming general elections

“We appeal to the leadership of our party in the Southwest region to work together to respect the Constitution of our party because, if we cannot respect our own rules, guidelines and constitution as a party, how will Nigerians trust us to respect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when voted into the office.

“The concern of our zonal leaders and their determination to protect the interest of our members against any form of marginalization is deeply appreciated.

“However, our focus should be directed mainly to encouraging our teeming members to rally around our candidates vying for the Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship positions and ensure that they win elections.

“The leadership of the party in the aforementioned states pledge our unwavering support and unalloyed commitment to our Presidential Candidate, former Vice President of Nigeria, His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, His Excellency, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

“The mission to rescue, rebuild and redirect Nigeria is a task that must be done, to save our country from imminent total collapse.”

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