Why Ayu Can’t Be Removed Now – Atiku

The campaign of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has explained reasons why the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, cannot be removed at this time.

Speaking on Saturday on Arise TV, one of the campaign spokesmen, Charles Aniagwu, said the party was exploring better crisis resolution strategies to resolve the lingering crisis in the party and not focusing on removing Ayu.

Explaining the vote of confidence passed on Ayu, Aniagu said, “People may misinterpret it to mean calling the bluff of certain stakeholders but that is far from it because the party leadership examined the issues vis-a-vis the provisions of the party’s constitution as amended in 2017.”

He further explained that, “When you look at that constitution, there are principal officers called the National Working Committee of the party led by the National Chairman and in the other hierarchy, the Deputy National Chairman who must also come from the same zone with the National Chairman is next in line.

“The third in line is the National Secretary and when you look at these positions, the National Chairman is from the North, the second in command is also from the North by virtue of the provision of the party’s constitution.

“In section 45 of the party’s constitution, in the event of removal or resignation of the National Chairman, the National Deputy Chairman takes over and acts in the position of that National Chairman pending when the party is able to organise another election or do a NEC meeting to be able to take a decision as to how to rearrange the hierarchy of the party,” he added.

The PDP has been in a steep crisis since the choice of the party’s Vice Presidential Candidate with the emergence of Ifeanyi Okowa, as against the expected choice of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

Okowa is the Delta State governor.

Since then, the pro-Wike camp has demanded Ayu step down, saying all heads of the party organs can not be from the North.

Ayu’s refusal to throw in the towel forced the Chairman of Board of Trustees of the party, Walid Jibrin, to announce his resignation from the position prompting the ascension of Adolphus Wabara, who is from the South East.

But Wike and his camp rejected the development insisting Ayu must go, amid stiff defence that it’s too close to the election as it could upset all the preparation and arrangement that have been made ahead of the take off of the presidential campaign in just over two weeks.

Ayu strengthened his grip on the party during the week as he secured a vote of confidence.

But Aniagu explained that Ayu’s removal “can only happen if you can also take a decision to remove the Deputy National Chairman of the party who the lot immediately falls on by provisions of the law.

“Even if the party is able to solve that puzzle by bringing both National Chairman and Deputy to South, the third person in the hierarchy of the National Working Committee of the party is the National Secretary and that is in the South specifically Senator Samuel Anyanwu from Imo State.

“Now if you decide to bring these two positions to the South, have you also made arrangements to take the National Secretary to the North?

“Because of these legal impediments the party examined it that given the time that we have which is just about six months to the general elections, that it may likely snowball into some form of crisis that could trigger a whole lot of discomfort within the party if we proceed to begin to make these changes that there is the tendencies that the party may be embroiled in a crisis that would be worse than the one we are seeing at the moment.

“That greater crisis is what the ruling APC is waiting to happen but the leadership of the party is intelligent enough and am happy that Governor Nyesom Wike and other leaders appreciate the need for the party to move as a whole into the 2023 general elections.”

The Atiku campaign spokesperson further said, “What is most important is that there is a bigger elephant here which is winning the 2023 general elections because Nigerians are looking up to the PDP to rescue the nation from where we are at the moment.

“I am convinced that our leaders who have been craving for these changes would appreciate the fact that the party is listening but because of time probably when the party may have won the elections in 2023 by the grace of God, we can now proceed to make some of these alterations that may not be injurious to our quest to win the general elections,” Mr Aniagwu said.