By Olusegun Olanrewaju and Ben Ogbemudia
Another tornado blew in the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday as the embattled National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, got a shocker of an ultimatum to quit office.
The marching order to vacate office was also extended to Ayu’s subordinates, National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and the Deputy National Chairman, North, Umar Damagum by a forum of candidates and aspirants, which held its meeting in Abuja.
They threatened to launch a legal offensive that will forcefully exit of the three officers from office.
Failure to leave on the deadline the party warned, would attract legal action.
The demand for the party officers to resign was part of the resolutions by the Forum of PDP candidates and aspirants, who also passed a vote of no confidence on them and petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on their unanimous demand.
Recall that a former National Vice-Chairman of the party, Bode George, has earlier given a September 28 deadline for Ayu to leave office, or face dire consequences.
They accused the party national officers of different allegations during the PDP congresses, primaries, and national conventions.
The stakeholders posited that the ‘underhand actions’ by the leadership of the party were largely responsible for the nullification by the courts of the governorship primaries in Zamfara State and all primaries held in Ogun State.
According to them, many more such cases are still pending in court.
At the end of their meeting, a communique was read by the Forum Coordinator and House of Assembly candidate in Ideato South of Imo State, Chris Ogbu.
The forum demanded that Ayu, Anyanwu, and Damagum should step down immediately or be sacked by the party within two days.
It made it clear that if they don’t step down as demanded, the national officers would face legal action, or be forced to leave office.
The forum maintained that sharing money paid as a nomination form, instead of utilising it for the prosecution of the historic 2023 election of the party, was very provocative and indicative of the image of the party.
NDLEA recovers N8.8b worth tramadol, nabs suspect in Lagos
*Produce minutes where decision on housing allowance was taken, say Arapaja, Orbih, others
Meanwhile, sequel to a raging N122m bribery allegation that has gutted the leadership of the PDP, some leading members of the National Working Committee (NWC) yesterday challenged the embattled national chairman, Ayu, to produce minutes of the meeting where an agreement was taken to give housing loan to members.
It would be recalled that there had been calls on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest the national chair and NWC members over the alleged scandal.
The Deputy National Chairman (South) of PDP, Taofeek Arapaja, and National Vice Chairman (South-South) Dan Orbih, among four others challenged Ayu to produce the minutes of NWC where an agreement was reached to give housing loans to members.
They also challenged the national chair to publish the account statement of the party, saying they will never cave into the embattled chairman’s blackmail.
Arapaja said he was shocked to read in a newspaper that such a thing was brought before the committee.
He said, “Which decision was taken by every person? Which decision was taken in a meeting? I have challenged them that they should produce the minutes of the meeting and the date the meeting took place, and who voted for that and who did not.”
But another member of the NWC loyal to Ayu who sought anonymity, said, “If you look at what happened during the time they were plotting to remove Secondus, you will realise it is the same thing that is playing out now.
“Then, it was reported that some NWC members were given money to pass a vote of no confidence on Secondus. That is the same thing that is happening now.”
“These guys decided to return the money to create the impression that the party is corrupt. Even look at the statement issued by Arapaja. He claimed that after a newspaper reported they were bribed to keep quiet over misappropriation of N15bn, he browsed through his various alerts, and he discovered a transfer of N36m from the party.”
The source wondered if Arapaja’s net worth is huge, and that he would not know the money to enter his account until a newspaper published the report.
The NWC member asked if Arapaja takes Nigerians for a fool, following his statement.
Recommit to transparency, declare your assets, SERAP urges Buhari
“They were all aware of the money and got higher returns from those who wanted Ayu out at all costs. But some disgruntled people asked them to return it to embarrass the party, and present it to Nigerians as a corrupt party.”
On his part, Orbih said, “That was how they ran away from there and started saying it is an accommodation allowance. Is it the house you want them to pay for (rent not buy) made of gold or is it diamond built?
“Ninety per cent of us, including Ayu, have a house here in Abuja. So, I don’t know. What is the take-home of Nigeria’s president, including accommodation allowance? What is bad is bad.”
He added, “I am not taking any steps. We have done what our conscience says is the right thing to do. Every person has a conscience, a name to protect. If others do not feel there is nothing wrong with it that is their business. I didn’t say other people should do it or not do it. They all have their consciences.
“I can tell you for sure that there was no meeting that the issue came to the NWC. I have never seen a country like this. Some said the money was paid on the 14th and why did it take me over 5-6 days? With the type of insecurity in this country, how many people put alerts on their phones?
“I normally reconcile my account at the end of every month. The story by a paper on September 26 was what triggered off this whole crisis. If not, I would have seen it at the end of the month.”
Orbih also stated, “I don’t want to talk about Ayu. I speak for myself. I have done what I feel is needful. I have given reasons for doing what I have done. Let every man carry the full weight of his problem. Ayu should speak for himself. He is an adult. It was very clear in my letter.
“If it is in a civilised society, people should be praising and commending us for what we have done. Instead, they will be asking them questions to make them justify what they did. It is wrong.
“They, first of all, said it was a loan. I asked where my loan application was. And if it is a loan, where is the repayment plan by me, signed between me and the party? And I asked the third question, when has PDP turned into a bank that gives loans to people?
Days ago, HURIWA’s national co-ordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, described as despicable the alleged grand larceny and graft ongoing within the PDP under Ayu.
That relates to the allegation that he gave N122.4m to four NWC members to silence them over an allegation of financial misappropriation to the tune of N15bn realised from the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms by aspirants that participated in the PDP primary back in May.
The group said the party had not come out to deny the allegations by at least four members of the PDP, and that it showed that there is an ‘unprecedented corruption’ ongoing within the PDP.
