Asking Ayu to resign now is like shooting general during war, says ex-PDP chair

Okwesilieze Nwodo, former national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the call for the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, is coming at the wrong time.

Over the past few weeks, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, and his allies have been calling for the resignation of Ayu.

According to Wike’s allies, the national chairman and the presidential candidate of the party cannot be from the same region.

However, some members of the party have rejected the call for Ayu to resign, saying the national chairman can only resign after the presidential election in February if the party wins.

On Friday, the PDP board of trustees (BoT) asked Ayu to assure members that he will resign after the 2023 general election.

Speaking on the development, Nwodo said it is “inauspicious” to ask the national chairman to resign months to the 2023 polls.

The former national chairman also said Ayu should be allowed to lead the party’s campaigns for the 2023 polls since he understands the party.

“Calling for justice, fairness, and equity at any time is right. The situation in our party right now is a call for the resignation of the party chairman as a means of balancing north and south power in our party,” he said.

“At the meeting of the board of trustees today, we (referring to a committee on reconciliation) submitted our report to the BoT.

“The board, in its wisdom, felt that to ask the chairman to resign at this time is like shooting your general at the point of going to war.

“The chairman of the party is the person who leads the party to the campaign for the election.

“Therefore, it is inauspicious to ask him to step down at this time and the person who will come will take time to understand the build-up we had in the past five months.

“It is difficult for us to change an executive we just elected in the middle of the campaign. Let us wait and win the presidency and Ayu will go.”

Nwodo also said timing is a crucial factor in politics.

“Of course, in politics, that is a great big mistake. Political expediency is tied up with timing,” he added.

“You have to time whatever you want to do in politics to resonate with the result you want.

“We believe that once we have a president in place, there is no way the chairman can remain in that zone.”