State chapters insist Oyo gov, others on their own in push to remove national chairman
Atiku denies trip to Europe is about medicals
Weeks to the commencement of campaign activities by candidates and their political parties ahead of the 2023 general elections, the crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have taken a turn for the worse.
The decision of the Ondo and Osun State chapters of the party to disown the ‘Ayu Must Go’ agitation being led by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is creating fresh anxiety within the troubled opposition party.
The arrow heads of the Ayu Must Go campaign in the South West zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appear to be losing the plot after the party’s chapters in Ogun, Osun and Ondo states declared their support for the embattled National Chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
That leaves Lagos, Ekiti and Oyo as the only states in the zone still hanging on to the campaign.
Former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, insisted yesterday that there was no way out for Ayu than to resign.
He said the PDP constitution should even be suspended if need be ahead of the presidential election campaign otherwise the party would have a tough time convincing the South West in particular to vote for its candidate.
George, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party, Taofeek Arapaja, are on the same page with Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike that Ayu must quit in fulfillment of his pre-convention pledge.
The Nation gathered yesterday that some PDP chieftains in the South West are forging ahead with their plan to replace Ayu with one of their own.
But the Ondo State chapter of the party yesterday passed a vote of confidence in the national chairman, insisting that its priority for now was to ensure victory for its candidate in next year’s polls.
The decision came on the heels of a statement by the Osun State chapter disclaiming the Wednesday statement by Makinde that the South West zone of the party wanted Ayu out.
It said there was no time the PDP in the South West met and took any such decision.
The Ondo State PDP in a statement through its Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, said it was not a party to the plot to remove Ayu from office being championed in the zone by Makinde and Mimiko as the priority of the party in the state is to ensure victory for the PDP in the next election.
“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.”
On its part, 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.”
Continuing, Adekunle said: “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 joined the fray on the side of Ayu, saying calls for his resignation now were ill timed.
Publicity Secretary, Akinloye Bankole, dissociated the chapter from Makinde’s pronouncement 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.
George: PDP can suspend constitution to get rid of Ayu
However, Chief Olabode George insisted yesterday that Ayu had no choice but to quit as national chairman in the overall interest of the PDP.
He said the party could even suspend its constitution to pave the way for the exit of the chairman and his replacement by a southerner the same way it discarded its policy of rotation of the presidency between the north and the south.
He was responding to the recent statement by Atiku Abubakar that the only way Ayu could leave now was to amend the PDP constitution.
George, in an interview on Arise Television, 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.”
South West’s push for chairmanship still on
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.
The Nation 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.
Some party sources in the zone also told The Nation that the push by the South West for the position of national chairman of the PDP had been considered before by some elders of the party who wished to see the zone play more prominent roles within the opposition party ahead of the 2023 general election.
“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, responding to Makinde’s call for Ayu’s resignation during the Ibadan interactive session, had appealed for calm, insisting that the party could not afford to do anything ‘unconstitutional’ at a crucial time like this.
Makinde had insisted that Ayu should resign, as the candidate and chairman cannot come from the same bloc region. The governor said Southwest PDP stakeholders believed that Ayu’s resignation should be the baseline for restructuring and unification, adding that if the controversy triggered by the distribution of positions was not resolved before next year’s polls, the South West would continue to nurture the fear 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.”
Speakers at the programme also included Osun State governor-elect, Sen Ademola Adeleke; former deputy governor of Ekiti State, Abiodun Olujimi who spoke on behalf of all the PDP National Assembly members; and National Vice Chairman of the party in the South West, Soji Adagunodo. They all expressed confidence in the ability and capacity of Atiku to restore the lost glory of Nigeria.
While all the speakers attested to Atiku’s ability to change the fortunes of the country if elected, the debate over Ayu’s fate remained the thorny issue at the meeting with many speakers calling for his removal.
Reacting to Makinde, Atiku said if Ayu must resign, his exit must follow due process. He said that the call for the re-composition of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) was not impossible, but only when the constitution of the party has been amended to accommodate such demand.
“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.”
According to the presidential candidate, Nigerians will not trust the PDP to govern by the tenets of rule of law if it takes such arbitrary action against itself.
The Ibadan parley, which was attended by leaders of the PDP across the six states of the geopolitical zone, was convened for stakeholders to discuss modalities for prosecuting and winning the 2023 presidential election with the presidential candidate of the party. Governor Bala Mohammad of Bauchi State; Deputy National Chairman of the party in the South, Amb Taofeek Arapaja; as well as Senator Dino Melaye, and Chief Raymond Dokpesi, were at the meeting.
Southwest PDP leaders in attendance included former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Osun State Governor-elect Ademola Adeleke, former Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose and PDP National Vice Chairman (Southwest) Taofeek Arapaja.
The Nation