‘Southwest may produce Ayu’s replacement’

There are indications that the national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party  Senator Iyorchia Ayu, may yield to pressures on him to quit as party stakeholders have begun to consider some Southwest candidates as his possible replacement.

Sources within the PDP confided in The Guardian that though the issue is yet to be decided, some party leaders are pushing for a Southwest person to replace Ayu, stressing that the consensus opinion of members is that Ayu should go.

He said party stalwarts are considering whether to empower the National Vice Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, to act as national chairman pending a mid-term convention or draft in former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, who is known to be an ally of Rivers State governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

The source said, “When the various leadership caucuses meet in the coming week, a decision would be taken on the matter. But, for now, it is the general opinion of members that Ayu should go in the interest of the party. We have a tradition; so, whether Arapaja is to act or somebody else would come in does not matter. We need to unite and move the party forward.”

This position, however, poses its own problem as using the party’s Constitution to resolve this matter may yield nothing, because if Ayu were to go, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagun, Deputy National Chairman (North), will be the one to step in until a convention is held to properly constitute another executive, according to Section 45 (I and II) of the party’s Constitution.

Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, dropped the hint about Ayu’s possible exit on Sunday, when he appeared on Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics.   Jibrin said it was unfair for the PDP presidential flag berarer and the party’s national chairman to come from the same Northern region of the country.

The BoT chairman disclosed that a report on the matter is being awaited by the party’s national leadership.

Expressing his determination to ensure that peace and genuine reconciliation returns to the party, Jibrin declared his readiness to even vacate his post to pave the way for PDP to achieve cohesion to win the forthcoming general elections.

He noted that the report on the crisis would be tabled to the leaders by next week, stressing, “when we find out that somebody is wrong in what has happened, we will come up openly to tell the party that it is wrong.   “Whatever we can do, we will do it in the interest of the party to make the party remain as PDP. 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  said.

As the party’s national caucus, BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC) plan to meet any moment from now, it was gathered that the recommendation of the various reconciliation committees will guide action on the matter.
The camp of the Rivers governor has not just insisted that Ayu should resign, it is also seeking to be allowed to produce the next chairman.