PDP Crisis: Ayu must be replaced before September 28 – Bode George

Why is this important: George insisted that Ayu must resign before the beginning of the 2023 election campaigns scheduled for September 28, 2022.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, September 15, 2022, the party chieftain said Ayu’s refusal to step down implied that members of the party in the south were of no importance.

He argued that the six top offices in the party must be distributed equitably and fairly because PDP is not a private company.

George says: “ Let me reiterate again that the will of the people must be respected and the six top offices in the country must be distributed equitably and fairly because PDP is not a private company. The office of the National Chairman must come to the South before we commence the presidential campaign if victory is to be secured in the next general election.

“In May this year, we elected our presidential candidate in the person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, setting aside the principle of rotation as enshrined in the constitution of our party in the interest of peace and unity of our party. Today, we are in a situation in which our National Chairman is from the same zone as our presidential candidate.

“Some people are insisting that there is nothing wrong with this present arrangement. Some have argued that this happened during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, where the candidate and the national chairman were from the same zone.

Ayu must go campaign: The call for Ayu’s resignation has been the main bone of contention in the PDP lately.

The call for Ayu’s resignation was first pushed by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Earlier in September, George threw his weight behind Wike’s call for Ayu’s resignation saying the governor was fighting for justice.

It would also be recalled that Engineer Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State recently added his voice to the call on Ayu to step down.

The governor maintained that for peace to reign in the PDP, Ayu must resign his position as the national chairman of the opposition party.

During his welcome address at the Wednesday meeting with Atiku, the Oyo state Governor restated the position of the South-West over the crisis in the party.

Makinde, who described Atiku as “the incoming President of Nigeria in 2023,” said the PDP must first of all practice the unity agenda it hopes to sell to Nigeria.