The protracted leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may continue to linger until the fate of its suspended National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, is determined.
Although pressure is mounting on Ayu to resign as a matter of sacrifice and withdraw his court case, he has kept the party in suspense.
Ahead of the April 18 meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), members are faced with two options should Ayu remain adamant.
The options are to allow the Deputy National Chairman, Umar Iliya Damagum from Yobe State (Northeast), to continue as acting National Chairman or to pick one of the national chairmanship aspirants from the Northcentral in an acting capacity.
Those nursing national chairmanship ambitions from the Northcentral are Senator Gabriel Suswam, Dr Emmanuel Agbo (Benue State), and Ex-Minister Humphrey Aba (Kogi State).
A source told The Nation: “There is too much tension ahead of the forthcoming NEC meeting, but it is a storm in a teacup because Ayu still holds the ace.
“So, Ayu is keeping the party in suspense. He can only pave the way for a permanent solution to the PDP leadership crisis by either resigning as the National Chairman or withdrawing the case in court on his suspension by the party.
“Some leaders are mounting pressure on Ayu to ‘sacrifice’ his interest for the survival of the party. We are yet to know what Ayu intends to do.”
Also, a top party official said: “Without resolving the logjam on Ayu, the party cannot pick a substantive National Chairman.
“If PDP goes ahead to appoint a substantive chairman, it will sink deeper into crisis because of the attendant series of litigations.
“Constitutionally, there is no vacancy in the office of the National Chairman of PDP because Ayu is only on suspension.
“Alternatively, the leaders of the party can enter into an agreement with Ayu by lifting his suspension and simultaneously asking him to resign.”
According to the sources, PDP leaders have been weighing the two options before the NEC meeting.
The alternatives are to ask Damagum to continue to act as the National Chairman or to pick one of the aspirants from the Northcentral as acting National Chairman.
Another source said: “If Ayu is adamant, the NEC will have no choice but to appoint a new Acting National Chairman to maintain some calmness.
“Some leaders have been asking the party to follow its tradition of replacing any officer with a candidate from the same geo-political zone.
“They claimed that since Ayu is from the Northcentral, any acting National Chairman should be from the Northcentral.
“It is left to NEC to accept or reject the Doctrine of Precedent, which is being promoted by pro-Atiku elements.
“If the NEC endorses the proposal to pick a new Acting National Chairman from the Northcentral, Damagum from the Northeast will step down and revert to his status as the Deputy National Chairman of PDP.”
