By Ben Ogbemudia, Abuja
Board of Trustee Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party Senator Walid Jibrin on Thursday urged the newly inaugurated national chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu to concentrate on his duties as chairman and not more of who shall be the President, Vice President, Senate President.

Jibrin also advised him not to side any individual with Self ambition and try to reduce the state of Godfatherism.

The BoT chairman speaking at a joint meeting between the Board of Trustees and the national working committee of the party held at the Wadata plaza, Abuja, therefore plead with Senator Ayu to respect the divinity of individual and dynamism of a group.

He urged the National Chairman to use his wealth of experience to make the party great as it remains the largest party in Africa.

“You must try to reconcile individuals, states, and national issues. Do not be detracted by the ambition of individual members but keep the party as formidable as possible.

“May I on behalf of the entire BOT Members sincerely congratulate the National P.D.P Chairman Prof. Iyorchia Ayu and all the newly elected NWC members. The election of the entire NWC members especially the National Chairman has been accepted by all organs, party members, and infact all Nigerians. Prof. Ayu’s election has undergone genuine processes starting from this unit, Ward, LGC, State, North Central Zone, Northern Region, and of course at NEC and National Convention.

“The election of Prof. Iyochia Ayu is not at all a surprise as earlier mentioned because of his being (1) Foundation Father of the P.D.P. and BOT, (2) Member of G3, G7, G17, G18, G34 who has really fought hard to form the P.D.P as from 1998. To be very sincere we must all assist him to function effectively. I want to reveal to you that the National Chairman has been my true supporter among other members who made me the BOT Chairman up till today and hopefully until the end of my Tenure and that of the Secretary Senator Adolphus Wabara in 2022 about 1 year 6 months to complete our 5-year term as enshrined in the P.D.P. Constitution as amended (2017). ”

On his part, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu said the party requires a lot of openness and courage to carry everybody along.

Mkpurummiri: NDLEA seizes 0.506kg of methamphetamine

He said that is the only way the party will move forward successfully.

“We want to assure you that we’ll do just that. Every member of the BoT, every member of the party far and wide will have access to all members of the National Working Committee. If you call me and I don’t answer, you’ll know that I’m busy but I’ll return your call. I will be so open to everybody.

“When we built cohesion in the party, it was possible for us to win first 21 governors and president, we increased this number to 28. So our decline started in 2011. Today we are down to only 13 sitting governor’s but never you worry, very soon the number will increase to the appropriate level.

“When this party was formed, in a meeting in Professor Jerry Ganas house, at Mambilla Stree in Mitama, the idea of a BoT was mooted and I remember vividly in an aside, those who are particularly passionate about this was Dr. Alex Ekwueme. The idea was that the Board of Trustees will be the conscience of the party. If there are difficulties, it will be referred to them in an advisory capacity. It was an advisory but very powerful advisory body because of the caliber of people that were to be represented in the BoT, people who had experience, people who will be respected, people who will stand objectively to guide those who are running the path.

“The first BoT, if I’m not mistaken, Prof. Gana, had only 15 members. Men of timber and caliber and it was I think, headed by Dr. Ekwueme. I’m proud to see that the BoT has risen from that modest number of 15 to over 100 members. Now, I think the first 15 had no woman but today we have so many women on the board which shows that the party has grown. Even the conscience of the party has expanded. I want to congratulate the woman who are today members of the BoT. We hope in future there will be more women than men in the BoT.

“The BoT has over the years played a very pivotal role in the affairs of the party. We have run into all sorts of crises and I thought the BoT would have fallen apart in the recent crisis that led to the change of leadership of the party. The BoT was very, very, very important. I am happy I was a member of the BoT and that’s is a specially advisor to the chairman. If the crisis was solved then it means I was also a good advisor and the Boat chairman was a very good principal. Mr. Chairman, I remain your advisor which explains that the National Working Committee or the chairman of the party has to work closely with all organs of the party.

“There was a time when the BoT was largely ignored, I think that was wrong. We must return the party to the corporate processes of initiating policies at the National Working Committee. The various critical organs of the party must be taken along. One of those critical organs is the Boat. We also have the caucus, we have the governor’s forum, we have the National Assembly, we have the state chairmen of the party. The moment you begin to take decisions that isolate these organs, it means the party will be working at cross purposes. It is very important to me and my colleagues in the National working committee that we constantly regularly consult with all members of the BoT. If we do that, the party will move smoothly. And if the party moves smoothly, it means we’ll be stronger, then if we are stronger, It means we will win more elections because the objective of a political party is to win elections, not just to create unnecessary intrigue within the party. Intrigues, yes, but there must be something about personal interest. Most of the intrigues arise because of personal interest. It is only when we put the interests of the party as paramount that we’ll be able to take this party to victory.

“I personally have no any personal interest. I will not be part of factions in any state. Now we’re not encouraging factions. I also want to say clearly that no single individual can win elections in the states. State Leaders must work as a team. If you work as a team, you will win elections in your state. Most of the elections we have lost in PDP is because PDP defeated PDP, which should never be encouraged. And part of the problem is because the leadership of the party sometimes take sides with certain factions.

“During my leadership of the party, I will try to be free, fair, and make the interest of the party to be paramount, it should not override a broader interest. I believe that if we go along this route, we will be able to recapture the lost glory of the PDP.”