By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, and with the emergence of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, there have been growing calls on the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign from office.
The latest came from elder statesman, South-South leader, and former federal commissioner for information, Edwin Clark, who yesterday asked Ayu to, as matter of urgency, quit office.
In a statement he personally signed yesterday, Clark, who is also the leader of Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), said that with the outcome of last Saturday’s primary election at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, it has become imperative for Ayu to resign as he can no longer head the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP.
The elder statesman also took a swipe at the action of Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who stepped down for Atiku at the venue of the convention, stressing that what he did was not only dishonourable, but constituted a serious electoral abnormality and ‘tragic betrayal’ of national patriotism for ‘hidebound interests’.
Clark, however, hailed the efforts of the convention committee chaired by former senate president, David Mark, and his assistants, and particularly the governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri.
The statement read, “I decided to issue this press release because of the worrying occurrences in our polity vis-a-vis the dappled party primaries being conducted across the country; the reported outrageous financial inducements of delegates, and the cynical dollarisation of the electoral process.
“These happenings give strong warnings of, more likely, deleterious outcomes of the 2023 general elections, mainly the presidential, and their aftermaths.
“Most disturbing is what happened at the Special National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja, on Saturday, 28th May 2022. I followed the live broadcasts of the proceedings keenly, until about 12.30 am on Sunday, the 29th.
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“I was quite impressed by the efforts of the convention committee…but, sadly, the outcome of the election leaves much to be desired; it was very unjust and rather unwholesome. It will definitely impact severe, adverse ramifications on the future unity of the country.”
Clark said he was alarmed by “the outrageous and Machiavellian manner in which Tambuwal, was so apparently ‘arranged’ to announce his withdrawal from the contest, at the last minute when his speech changed the mood of the event.
“That was done in order to foist another northerner as the party’s flag bearer; having regard to the fact that Governor Aminu Tambuwal was the only aspirant from the whole of the North-West, which had about 192 delegates at the convention.
The elder statesman added, “Another northern aspirant, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, a businessman from Borno State, had, earlier, also suddenly withdrawn from the contest, citing its obscene monetisation 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 doing so, unduly swept his North-West votes to Atiku Abubakar.
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“One can now appreciate the reasons given by Mr Peter Obi for his withdrawal from the PDP, both as a member, and as an aspirant, a few days before the party’s primary. And I would think that what he did was, without doubt, in respect, or obedience, to the position of the southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum.
“Even much worse, in the extreme, was the action of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu, in his open visit to Governor Tambuwal to congratulate and hail him, in his words, as “the hero of the Convention.”
Clark submitted: “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.
“Senator Iyorchia Ayu’s appalling, thoughtless and unpatriotic public conduct bears grave negative consequences. He should, therefore, no longer consider himself fit and proper to retain his position as the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and should resign now.”
