A former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Olabode George, has called for the resignation of the party’s National
Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, while making a case for the position to be filled by a
southerner.
According to George, the present arrangement in the party
which has the presidential and national chairman positions filled by persons
from the north cannot continue to stand.
George, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos on
Thursday, said Ayu’s refusal to resign sends a message to members of the PDP in
the South that they don’t matter.
He said, “In May this year, we elected our presidential
candidate in the person of 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.
“Let the truth be told, there are remarkable differences in
the scenario then and now. Then we had the leader of the party who was then a
sitting president from the South and the candidate was from the North.
“In addition, the National Chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali, was then
on his way out. Today we have no sitting President from our party in Aso Villa
so, that argument falls flat. We need to stop playing games and being
zombified.
“Let me summarise the genesis of the current crisis.
“As envisaged by the founding fathers of our party, there
are six top positions in our Country: President, Vice President, Senate
President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government
of the Federation and National Chairman of the party.
“Presently we are not in government, therefore we only
control three of these six positions namely: Presidential, Vice Presidential
Candidates and National Chairman.
“I remember that Dr. Iyorchia Ayu said pointedly that if the
Presidential Candidate emerges from the North, he would resign for a new
National Chairman to emerge from another zone before the presidential campaign
starts.
“The other three positions are futuristic. It is only when
we win the elections that we will fill these positions namely: the Senate
President, the Speaker and the Secretary to the Federal Government.
“As a result of the need to have inclusiveness, oneness and
togetherness, it does not make any political sense for the Presidential
Candidate and the National Chairman to come from the same zone. Now, we have a
situation in which some elders are saying “it does not matter”. Can we go into
the election with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from the same
zone, leading our National Campaign?
“This will be an affront, an impunity, and an insult to the
electorate and party members from the South.
“Dr. Ayu promised openly, before the presidential primary in
May, to resign, if the Presidential Candidate emerges from the North. So, why
has he refused to honour his words? Why is he reneging? What is driving his
reluctance not to resign?
“We are promising
Nigerians that when we get to government, every tribe will have a say in
government but now, how do we want Nigerians to trust us when we cannot fulfil
a simple promise? Our National Chairman made a pledge and in such a short time
he has broken the pledge.
Our party members from the South are now asking the
following questions patently:
“Have we thrown our integrity to the dogs?
“How will Southern PDP leaders convince their electorate to
vote for our candidate when there is no substantial National position in the
Southwest?
“How can we go into the election season with this type of
division and expect to win the February 25 presidential election?
“Unless we are united, unless we have fairness, equity and
justice in our system, the party and the country are heading nowhere.
“I am not a soothsayer, but I have traversed the length and
breadth of our country and have learnt so much politically. What I have
predicted above will come to pass unless reason prevails and we apply the brake
immediately.
“It was the same myopic and unpatriotic reasoning that led
to the collapse of the First and Second Republics.
“My intervention is about the future of this country because
what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”
The PDP chieftain wondered if the North would remain calm if
the positions in question were filled by only Southerners.
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