Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is close to Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairman of the main opposition party, has said the Benue-born politician would not resign from office.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that 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.
While dismissing the demand for Ayu’s resignation by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his loyalists, the source said instead of calling for the current PDP Chairman’s exit, they should clamour for the resignation of the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. The PDP NWC member argued that Ayu is not guilty of any offence.
“Ayu is not resigning,” the source told Punch in an interview published on Monday.
“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 Wike in the PDP primary election, Atiku did.
“Ayu did not choose a running mate (Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta State) 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.”
