Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been asked to quit immediately by elder statesman Edwin Clark.
This was revealed in a statement signed by the Niger Delta leader and received by Newsmen on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, requests for Ayu’s resignation have increased recently, following the choice of Atiku Abubakar as the PDP’s presidential candidate in 2023.
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On Saturday night, the former Vice President trounced his closest competitor, Nyesom Wike, in the major opposition party’s presidential primary.
After the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, withdrew out of the contest for him during the polling process, Atiku received 371 votes while Wike received 237 votes.
Those behind the call have continually stated that the party’s presidential candidate cannot be from the North as its national chairman.
Reacting in the statement, Clark said Tambuwal’s withdrawal was done to foist another Northerner as the Party’s flag bearer.
He said: “What Tambuwal did was not only dishonourable but also a serious electoral abnormality and a tragic betrayal of national patriotism for hidebound interests.
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“Another Northern aspirant, Mr Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, a businessman from Borno State, had, earlier, also suddenly, withdrawn from the contest, citing its obscene monetization as his reason; but we now know better. It is now widespread understanding that there were pressures mounted on Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, to also withdraw, while Tambuwal deliberately delayed his action till the last minute. By so doing, unduly swept his North West votes to Atiku Abubakar.”
He stated that what played out during the PDP presidential primary has vindicated Peter Obi’s decision to dump the party for the Labour Party.
Clark slammed Senator Ayu for openly visiting Governor Tambuwal to congratulate and hailing the Sokoto Governor as “the hero of the Convention”.
He said: “This clearly reveals his partiality and predilection in the processes leading to the baffling conclusion of the PDP Presidential Primary. His undignified and parochial conduct, to please his northern principals, is not only a big disgrace to the office he occupies but, also, a sad display of lewd subservience to the political subjugation of one ethnic group, in a diverse country like Nigeria.
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“We had earlier suspected that he was in favour of a northern candidate, when on the day of his inauguration as National Chairman, last year, he, needlessly, said during his speech, that he would resign if a Northerner emerged as the Presidential Candidate of the party.
“Senator Ayu has failed to realize that what we are fighting for affects all Minorities in Nigeria. The Southern Nigeria relationship with the Middle Belt is well established, dating back to the First Republic, during the period of Dr. J. S. Tarka, from today’s Benue State, a Founding Member of the then, United Middle Belt Congress, and the strong alliance with Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group. The relationship subsisted during the Second Republic, when the Minorities of the South and the Minorities of the North combined to fight for a common course; the inclusion, and full participation of all Minorities in the politics and governance of the Country, of which I was the Leader.”
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He stated that the PDP chairman should, therefore, no longer consider himself fit and proper to retain his position and should resign immediately.
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