Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, has stated that no one can remove him from his position, adding to the crisis roiling the party.
Speaking to the audience that had gathered to welcome him home in Gboko on Friday, Ayu said this in the Tiv dialect.
In addition, he asserted that he had the authority to oust any candidate supported by the party, particularly in the state where he had been personally attacked.
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“I have been silent over all the things you are hearing against me because I don’t want any crack in the party I belong to in my state. I have the power to say, ‘you and you will not go anywhere,’ because I will insist that I must sign before you go anywhere.
“But I have signed for all candidates produced by the PDP to go ahead with their dreams; whether I like it or not, I signed. So, I was doing that believing that I cannot shoot myself in the leg. I want Benue to come first by winning all elections so that Nigerians will say that the national chairman has delivered his state to PDP with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar winning 90 per cent of the votes and Titus Uba as governor in 2023.
Since the party’s presidential primary produced Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as the party’s flag bearer against the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who was the choice of some governors, including Ortom, the governor and the national chairman, who are both from the same senatorial district, have been in opposing camps within the party.
To bring peace to the largest opposition party, the governor and his counterparts in Oyo, Abia, and Enugu have repeatedly demanded Ayu’s resignation as the party’s chairman.
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The governor has also been charged of working with others to remove the governor’s son from his high job, according to Ayu’s relatives in the Jemgbah axis.
The national chairman, however, informed the cheering throng that he would not step down until the time that “God allowed.”
“Nothing should worry you, my people. Since I started politics more than 30 years ago, you have never rejected me; you are always supporting me. They say a prophet has no respect in his home, but my case is different. I am overwhelmed by this great show of love. The PDP is one and not divided. I am trying my best not to disappoint Benue people and Nigerians in general, so if you hear that they want to chase Ayu out as national chairman, don’t be worried; nobody is going to sack me as national chairman of our party. I will leave the seat on a day that God permits.
“It is God that enthrones leadership, He uses people to enthrone a person over others and protects that person. I want to assure you that all these days, God has been protecting me even when I went on sick leave abroad, God is still protecting me.
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“The Tiv people have suffered so much in this country. We have yet to get our share of the national cake, so my charge to you is not to relent in prayers so that this time around, come 2023, God will give us a President who will work closely with the governor of our state to wipe out our tears,” he added.
Ayu also allayed fears about Atiku’s ethnicity and called on people of the state to vote massively for the party.
He added, “During Senator J S Tarka’s era, God gave us a Fulani man, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Did he fight the Tiv nation? Did he kill our people? He appointed five ministers from Benue State and the Speaker of the House of Representatives: Benjamin Chaha, Paul Unongo (Minister of Steel), Isaac Shaahu (Minister of Communications), Mrs Elizabeth Ivase (Education Minister), Audu Ogbeh, etc. Was he not a Fulani man?
“Another Fulani man, Yar’ Adua, appointed a Tiv man, Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, his Minister of Justice. Today, the flagbearer of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, who is not only a chieftaincy title holder of the Tiv people as the Zege Mule U Tiv but also my friend, told me his plans for the Tiv nation, that he will wipe away the tears of our people.
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“So, nobody should try to bring any troubles to you. I am telling you today, PDP is one party. A party that has divisions does not win elections. No matter the strength of any party, if it does not have unity, it will lose elections.”
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