Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is not opposed to the calls on the National Chairman of the party Iyorcha Ayu to resign, a chieftain of the party Katch Ononnuju, has said, adding that Ayu has become a problem for the party.
Ayu’s resignation is one of the preconditions demanded by a group led by the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike for peace to return to the party.
The Rivers helmsman and his supporters are angry with the party as a result of the fallout of the party presidential primary held in June which Atiku won, and the PDP presidential candidate’s decision to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state as his running mate has further riled Wike who has recently been fraternizing with opposition leaders in the country, fueling rumour of his defection from the PDP.
On Wednesday, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the party said he will resign from his position if that will ensure that peace returns.
The PDP chairman has insisted that he will not resign. His insistence to remain in office is believe to have the backing of key Atiku supporters.
But speaking on the issue, Ononnuju said Atiku is not averse to the call on Ayu to resign.
According to him, “The candidate wants Mr Ayu to leave so that he could have a peaceful party to go to the election,” he said. Ononuju who spoke on Thursday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, said Ayu must not be constitute a clog in the wheel of the party to move forward, adding that Ayu will not be the first chairman to be sacked before the end of his tenure.
He said, “If Atiku keeps saying he is a unifier, let him now unify the party by taking decisions and also acting to aid the southerners in this issue of inclusion.
“If he (Ayu) stays, he divides the party; if he stays, the party could lose. If he stays, the party implodes with the staying put.”
“If he (Ayu) goes, we have mechanisms, we’ve had chairmen who have left without completing their four-year term. The person (Uche Secondus) he replaced didn’t complete his four-year term.
““He should understand the way he came is also the door he will go through. He should understand that our party is that way.”
