Presidential primary: Ayu not fit to continue as PDP chairman, says Edwin Clark

Edwin Clark, elder statesman and leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), says Iyorchia Ayu is not fit to remain in his position as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Clark was speaking on the happenings at the PDP presidential primary.

On May 28, shortly before voting commenced at the primary, Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, who had been screened to contest the presidential ticket, announced his withdrawal from the race and asked his supporters to back former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

At the end of the exercise, Atiku polled 371 votes and was declared the winner, while Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, who was his closest challenger, secured 237 votes.

Subsequently, Ayu, during a visit to Tambuwal the next day, called him the “hero” of the convention.

Reacting to this, the Ijaw leader accused the PDP chairman of being partial to the north during the primary.

“Even much worse, in the extreme, was the action of the national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), senator Iyorchia Ayu, in his open visit to Governor Tambuwal to congratulate and hail him, in his words, as the hero of the convention,” the statement reads.

“This clearly reveals his partiality and predilection in the processes leading to the baffling conclusion of the PDP Presidential Primary. His undignified and parochial conduct, to please his northern principals, is not only a big disgrace to the office he occupies but, also, a sad display of lewd subservience to the political subjugation of one ethnic group, in a diverse country like Nigeria.

“Senator Iyorchia Ayu’s appalling, thoughtless and unpatriotic public conduct bears grave negative consequences. He should, therefore, no longer consider himself fit and proper to retain his position as the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),  and should resign now.”

The leader of PANDEF also said some aspirants from the south failed because they refused to be steadfast in their demand for a “southern presidency”.

“One can now appreciate the reasons given by Mr Peter Obi for his withdrawal from the PDP, both as a member, and as an aspirant, few days before the party’s primary. And I would think that what he did was, without doubt, in respect, or obedience, to the position of the southern and middle belt leaders’ forum,” he said.

“Unfortunately, some aspirants from the south believed that, with the resources and facilities at their disposal, their elders no longer matter, and disregarded, with impunity, the patriotic advice on the need to be steadfast on the position of the zoning of the presidency to the south.

“They never minded that what we have been advocating was in their interest. They proved themselves to be selfish and arrogant, and thought they could win on their own steam. They failed; I can only hope that they have, now, learned their lessons.”