Ayu has no plan to resign as PDP chairman, says aide

Simon Imobo-Tswana, special adviser on media and communications to Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says his principal has no plan to resign from his position.

Imobo-Tswam said this in a statement issued on Monday.

There have been calls for Ayu to resign on the grounds that the party’s presidential candidate and the national chairman cannot be from the same region.

Also, some members of the PDP in Delta recently held a protest at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, calling for Ayu’s resignation over his alleged failure to comply with a court order on the PDP governorship primary in Delta state.

Earlier on Monday, there were claims that the PDP national chairman had written a letter indicating his interest in resigning from his position.

However, according to Imobo-Tswam, there was no basis for the claim as Ayu isn’t planning to resign.

“We restate, therefore, that the PDP National Chairman has not resigned and has no plan of resigning. For clarity and emphasis, he was elected for a tenure of four years,” the statement reads.

“Sections 45 and 47 of the PDP Constitution are clear on the removal and/or resignation of the National Chairman. Those who don’t know this should get copies of the party’s Constitution for more information on the matter.

“PDP members and the general public are advised to ignore any story of such a phantom resignation.”

The media aide added that the reports claiming that Ayu had submitted his resignation letter to David Mark, former senate president, are “false, baseless, reckless, inaccurate and complete work of fiction”.

“If there is such a resignation, it exists only in the imagination of those who have made themselves available for hatchet jobs,” he said.

Imobo-Tswam also said if Ayu would resign, the letter would be given to the party’s deputy chairman (north) and not the former senate president, in line with section 45(i and ii) of the party’s constitution.

“So, where does Mark comes in here, being that he is not even a member of the party’s national working committee (NWC)? It appears that those who have been procured to blackmail the national chairman out of office are not even aware of what the party’s Constitution says about the matter,” he said.

“We are shocked that such reckless, vicious, mischievous and fabricated falsehood can find prime space in the mainstream media.

“But even more shocking is the fact that otherwise respected media houses have made themselves easy platforms for unscrupulous people to peddle falsehood and run smear campaigns.”

The media aide added that Ayu remains committed to his “crucial assignment to lead the PDP on a historic rescue mission come February 2023, and he will not be deterred or distracted by media terrorism or political blackmail”.