By Olusegun Olanrewaju
For the embattled national chairman of Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, it looks like another case of ‘if you give me trouble, I’ll give it to you double’, has been stoked.
Yesterday, once again, he stepped on the razor, calling fellow politicians on the combustive turf, ‘children’.
Now, Ayu has attracted a load of stuff from those who took great offence to being labelled ‘minnows’.
Fireworks came from the likes of a House of Representatives member representing the Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency and the senatorial candidate for Kogi West senatorial district in the 2023 election, Teejay Yusuf.
Yusuf, who is a PDP member, gave it hard to Ayu, saying, “It is sad that while other political parties are forging ahead, PDP is still bugged with the crisis. What the party chairman has said is not helpful to the resolution of the crisis.”
Also, a PDP governorship aspirant in Ogun State and former spokesperson of Atiku, Olusegun Sowunmi, added to the verbal warfare show, saying, “This is uncharitable for an elder seeking peace. He should not be talking in such pedestrian language. Those are not words that should come from someone who is the national chairman of the party.”
Ayu had drawn the first blood while defending his option not to resign in the wake of the crises rocking the once ruling party he now leads.
He said ‘children’ who didn’t know why the party was formed can’t be calling for his resignation.
The national chairman was speaking in an interview in vernacular on a worldwide broadcast platform, BBC Hausa Service.
Ayu has been locked in an epic battle with the camp of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to quit office after the latter lost the party’s presidential ticket to the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar.
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During the APC presidential primaries, Atiku defeated Wike to clinch the party’s presidential ticket for the 2023 election.
Like a bull in the China shop, instability has been tugging at the soul of the opposition party, and many now fear that the centre may no longer hold.
Ayu’s resignation as a condition for peace and a path to victory for PDP has been one of the conditions to resolve the party’s post-presidential primaries crisis, especially from the Wike camp.
But responding to calls for him to quit office before peace can reign in the party, Ayu stressed that he would not resign because some people are not comfortable with having him around.
“I was voted as PDP national chairman to serve for four years, I am not even a year old on the position,” the former lawmaker said.
“I was voted as PDP Chairman for a four-year tenure, and I’m yet to complete a year. Atiku’s victory doesn’t affect the chairman’s position. I won my election based on our party’s constitution.”
“Atiku’s victory at the national primaries has no nothing to do with the party’s leadership; I was the bona fide winner of the election. We acted within the dictates of the PDP constitution.
“I have not violated any rules; in fact, I am working to bring reforms to the party. I am truly not bothered by the unnecessary controversy being generated,” Ayu maintained.
“I didn’t commit any offence. I’m only reforming the party, so I’m not bothered by all the noise. I know I’m doing my work, and I didn’t steal any money, so, I see no reason for all these talks. When we started PDP, these children were not around. They are children who do not know why we formed the party. We will not allow any individual to destabilise our party,” he said.
