Olusegun Olanrewaju, David Lawani and Ben Adoga
More trouble came the way of the embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu, yesterday as a court restrained him from parading himself as the occupant of the office from which he was announced to be suspended by the local chapter on Sunday.
It was a real mixed bag yesterday as Ayu denied the suspension placed on him by his ward exco in Benue State, but a court order was to reverse the claim.
A High Court in Makurdi, Benue State, issued an interim injunction restraining Ayu from parading himself as the national chair of the leading opposition party in the country.
The presiding judge, Justice W.I Kpochi, gave the interim order in suit No. MHC/85/2023 was filed at the court by Terhide Utaan, with Ayu and the PDP as defendants.
However, the case was adjourned until April 17 for further hearing.
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Announcing the judgement, the court ruled that the application was supported by a 15- paragraph affidavit in which it was annexed three exhibits as exhibits A1, A2, and B.
These were the applicant’s membership card of the second defendant, receipts for payment of dues, and a vote of no-confidence passed in the 1st defendant by the Igyorov Council Ward of the 2nd defendant in Gboko Local Government, Benue State which announced the party’s chairman’s suspension on Sunday.
The court, in a statement, said, “Upon hearing Mr. M. T. Assoh of learned counsel ably moved the application and upon a dispassionate consideration of the facts placed before me in the pool of the affidavit evidence, and again, upon the consideration of the issues distilled in the written address by M.T Assoh of learned counsel, it is my candid view that this is a proper case to grant the interim injunction as craved.
“Consequently, this application is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs captured in the motion papers as herein before reproduced. It is so ordered.”
*My suspension an exercise in futility, Ayu waves off Benue party ward executives
Announcing Ayu’s suspension on Sunday, party ward executives at Igyorov, in the Gboko local government area led by the ward secretary, Vangeryina Dooyum, on behalf of Kashi Philip, the ward chairman, alleged anti-party activities on the part of Ayu, for which he was being put in the cooler.
They stated that such infractions contravened the PDP’s rules and regulations.
Ayu fought back spiritedly yesterday.
He said he remains the chairman of the party, adding that those claiming they have suspended him were ignorant.
The national chairman’s defence was marshalled by his special adviser on media and communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, who, in a statement, noted that the purported suspension was done by political gamblers who do not mean well for the party.
The statement read: “The PDP national chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has not been suspended by his ward. Some members of the Exco are only being tele-guided by political gamblers to cause mischief and nothing more.
“For starters, Article 57(7) of the PDP constitution as amended in 2017 expressly prohibits any organ of the party or executive committee of the party at the ward or state level from taking any disciplinary measure against any member of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
“The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling, and desperation. It has only mischief, drama, and propaganda value.
“But, more than this, the so-called suspension letter was written by an illiterate beforehand, and only given to the coerced members to sign somewhere in Makurdi,” it stated.
The media aide added, “This is why the original date is typexed and 24 March imposed on it. And this is also why it states that the presidential/NASS and Governorship/State Assembly elections will be held on the 25th and 18th of March, 2023 respectively.
According to Imobo-Tswam, “From what we know, the document itself is fraudulent as the signatures of the ward executives were forged or obtained under duress.”
“The chairman, his deputy, and legal adviser didn’t sign. The 14th person on the list didn’t sign either.
She was at NKST Ambighir for the Holy Communion.
“The same applies to Nos. 5, 8, and 16. At the time they were supposed to be in Makurdi with the other coerced, intimidated, and induced members of the Exco, they were actually in their villages, going about their normal businesses.
“Up till now, about nine members of the Ward Exco are still being held hostage in a location in Makurdi for obvious reasons. And expectedly, their mobile numbers have been switched off. It is instructive.
“The general public is hereby advised to ignore rumours to this heinous effect. Those behind the plot are only investing in expensive illusions,” the communication aide stated.
*The fight has just started -Wike
Meanwhile, Ayu’s arch-foe and the leader of the G5 governors in the PDP leadership opposed to his administration, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has compounded matters for Ayu.
Maintaining his stance that Ayu must quit office before peace could return to the party, Wike said his Ayu-Must-Go stand remained firm, adding that the fight against him in the party had just started.
The governor stated that “it has now become unthinkable to allow any person who was unable to deliver his political unit, ward, local government, or state to the PDP during the last general elections to preside over the party”.
Wike was speaking yesterday during the inauguration of the remodelled Community Secondary School, Okoro-nu-Odo, in the Obio-Akpor local government area of the state.
The Rivers State helmsman accused Ayu of collecting bribes, adding that the PDP experienced colossal failure in the 2023 presidential and governorship elections, not only in Benue State but across the country.
His words, “Ask them, those who want to be chairman of this party (PDP), what do you have to give to the party now? Presidential election; you took bribes, and lost in your unit, lost in your ward, lost in your local government, and lost in your state. Which party will you preside over now?”
Wike claimed that it was God who hardened Ayu’s heart not to resign when the G-5 governors and members of Integrity Group demanded his resignation after the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the PDP presidential candidate.
In his view, if Ayu had resigned then, his cohorts who were vehemently opposed to the zoning of elective and appointive offices would have used that as an excuse for the party’s abysmal performance in the just-concluded general elections.
The governor maintained that it will be morally offensive for Ayu to remain as the national chairman of the PDP after the catastrophic defeat of the party under his watch in his unit, ward, local government, state, and national levels.
The suspension of Ayu, he stressed, is the beginning of the fight to save the party.
“Those of you who are fighting that they have suspended him, you have not seen anything yet. The fight has started. Ayu, the fight has just started. If you know him, those of you who are close to him, tell him, Iyorchia Ayu, the fight has just started,” he said.
Wike also insisted that instead of Ayu using his position to strengthen the grip of the PDP of Benue State, he allowed it to slip off him. According to him, other PDP-controlled states cannot sustain the party financially and tolerate him as their chairman.
He asked, “Will you preside over the one (Rivers PDP) I have secured victory for? Do you want to come and preside over this state (Rivers) so that we will begin to donate money to the party?
“You, bring your state to the party too, so that your state can contribute money to the nation. If you don’t deliver your state, you can’t preside over us. You cannot.”
The governor, however, noted that, already, some persons within the party are thinking and acting to side with Ayu to fight back the suspension slammed on him, but warned such persons that they will be doing so to their detriment “because they would have consequences to face”.
Specifically, Wike said, “Look at somebody who did anti-party, he is suspending people. The chief priest of the anti-party, a native doctor of the anti-party suspended those who have worked hard for this party.
“All of you who are joining Ayu, be prepared. Now, I have no other job, the job I have now is to put more heat on them, and I will continue to do that.”
The Rivers governor Wike pointed out the nullity of the purported summoning of members of the National Working Committee of PDP to Abuja to meet and pronounce the suspension as illegal.
“If you like, let the national secretary rush to Abuja. Let them meet this afternoon and say the suspension is illegal, you will see what you will face. You are calling us small boys, you will see what small boys can do to you.”
Wike stressed that those who thought they could toy with Rivers State and not be dealt with squarely can begin to lick their wounds because they have been ‘peppered’.
He also dismissed the claim by a former governor of the state, Chibuike Amaechi, that he constructed five flyovers during his tenure, and yet cannot list them for identification.
The governor restated that his administration, within four years, constructed 12 flyovers, handled by a reputable construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, and went ahead to list the flyovers to clear any public doubt.
Umahi also used the occasion to correct the impression in some quarters that Wike worked against the victory of the Labour P (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in Rivers State.
He explained that in 2019, it was Wike, as governor, “who tirelessly mobilised political leaders in the South-East to support the vice presidential ambition of Peter Obi, after supporting him to win that slot.
The Ebonyi governor commended Ayu for not resigning when the G-5 governors and the members of the Integrity Group mounted pressure on him to do so.
According to him, if he had conceded to the demand then, it would have been difficult for the APC to win the last presidential election.
