2023: Ayu Must Resign Now, Oyo PDP Tells Atiku, Reveals Makinde’s Position on Campaign Council

• The southwest PDP may find it difficult to campaign for its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 election
• Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling APC, hails from the zone
• Some PDP leaders in the south had insisted that the party's national chairman, Ayu should resign in the spirit of fairness and justice

Ibadan, Oyo state - The campaign against the continued stay of the former Senate president, Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified on Friday, September 16, in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state.

Legit.ng reports that the party's state chapter insisted that Ayu's resignation as the chairman of the party would pave way for a true reconciliation among the aggrieved members of the party.

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The Oyo PDP, however, lauded the inclusion of Governor Seyi Makinde in the Presidential Campaign Council of the party.

It would be recalled that Makinde, alongside his counterparts in Benue, Samuel Ortom, Enugu, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Abia, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, as well as their leader and counterpart from Rivers, Chief Nyesom Wike, have been opposed to the continued stay of Ayu.

Southerner must replace Ayu as PDP national chairman

They cited the need for fairness for their stance as they believe that the office ought to be occupied by a party member from the south, considering the fact that the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is from the north.

Akeem Olatunji, the party's publicity secretary in the state made the position of the party known in a terse statement issued on Friday.

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Olatunji said:

“We have no problem with our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and so Gov. Seyi Makinde’s appointment as vice chairman of the campaign team is accepted, even by the party in the state. Gov. Wike is also in the team. We don’t have any personal grudge with Alhaji Atiku but the leadership arrangement.

“Our presidential candidate cannot come from the north and the national chairman will also be from the north. That is our grouse with the leadership of the party at the national level.

“The national chairman must be from the south because we have told them that Ayu must resign. We want our party to win and if the presidential candidate should start campaigning with the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, still in office, opposition parties will even use it to campaign against us, and it will not be in the interest of both Atiku and our party.”

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Ayu's removal may cause constitutional crisis, says Atiku

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Atiku Abubakar said the party may lose the trust of Nigerians should it heed the call to remove its national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

It was reported that the former vice president's position was contained in a statement signed by his media aide, Mazi Paul Ibe, and made available on Wednesday, September 14.

Atiku said this was because removing Ayu and tinkering with the composition of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) would be a breach of the party’s constitution.

Source: Legit.ng