Ayu Must Go  Before September 28 – Bode George

By Akinwale Kasali

On the day the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, constituted a Presidential Campaign Committee, one of its chieftains, Chief Bode George, insisted that National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, must step down before  the beginning of Campaigns.

George, a former National Chairman, said Ayu must give way to a Southerner. The election campaigns start on September 28, 2022. The Presidential election is scheduled for February, 2023.

Speaking at a Press Conference in Lagos on Thursday, George said Ayu’s refusal to fulfil his promise to step if the Party’s Presidential flag-bearer emerged from the North meant that members of the party in the South were of no importance.

He said, “ 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.”

It would be recalled that during the South West Meeting with the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde made it clear that the South wants Ayu to resign his position as the National Chairman of the Party before the 2023 General Elections campaign begins.

Neither Ayu nor the candidate, Atiku, is likely to yield to the pressure.