The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party is presently divided over the demand by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, must resign before he would agree to reconcile with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Top party members revealed on Sunday that the NWC members were sharply split between those who endorsed the calls for Ayu’s removal and the ones that were against the idea.
Wike and Atiku fell apart after the former vice-president emerged as the PDP presidential candidate and selected the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate over Wike who was recommended by a panel set up by the party.
Although the PDP set up a panel to reconcile the two men, Wike’s insistence on removing the party chairman as a condition for peace had continued to generate tension in the main opposition party.
Wike had accused Ayu of being impartial, noting that he had earlier promised to resign if a northerner emerged as the party presidential candidate.
In a bid to pacify the Rivers governor, Atiku during his meeting with him and four other governors in London, United Kingdom, last Thursday, was said to have asked Wike to give him two weeks to think about the governor’s insistence on Ayu.
Atiku met with Wike a few hours after the governor held a parley with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
A member of the NWC of the party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that asking Ayu to resign would not resolve the crisis.
According to him, if Ayu resigns, the Deputy National Chairman, Umar Damagum, who will take over, is also representing the North.
He said, “The issue is both political and constitutional. Asking Ayu to go may not solve the political problem, since the deputy national chairman of the party for the North will still take charge of the party in the absence of the chairman.
“To solve the constitutional and political crises, the NEC (National Executive Committee) of the party can dissolve the NWC and turn them into an interim committee. If that is done, they will just appoint someone from the region where they want the national caretaker chairman to come from as Ayu’s successor.
“But so far, no meeting has been slated for this week yet. But by tomorrow (today), we will know if there will be a meeting and the agenda will also be listed.”
According to the PDP’s constitution, if a national chairman resigns, he will be succeeded by a deputy national chairman from the same region, North or South as the case may be.
But an NWC source close to Ayu said the national chairman would not resign from office.
While dismissing the demand for his resignation, the source said instead of calling for his exit, they should clamour for the resignation of the PDP presidential candidate.
He said, “Ayu is not resigning. Ayu is from the North-Central. If Ayu resigns now, the person to take over from him is Umar Damagum, Deputy National Chairman (North) from the North-East. If people do not want North-Central or North-East, why will they accept (someone from) North-East and North-East?
‘’The man that will take over from Ayu is from the North- East, the same zone as Atiku Abubakar. Does it make any sense? So how does he help the argument of North-North?
“Ayu was elected for four years and he has not done even one year. So why should the thought of resigning even arise? What has Ayu done that he should resign? He is not a candidate in the party, he did not beat (Nyesom) Wike in the election, Atiku did.
The source further stated, “Ayu did not choose a running mate for Atiku; Atiku chose for himself. So they should ask Atiku to resign because he was the one that did two bad things. Firstly, Atiku beat Wike; secondly, he bypassed him in choosing a running mate. I don’t see where Ayu has come into this.
“They should tell Atiku to resign, not Ayu who came on a national assignment to rescue the country from the grip of the locusts.”
There are indications that the crisis plaguing the PDP might have taken a worse turn with the NWC members unable to agree on the way out of the challenge.
