We may face bigger crisis if Ayu resigns, says PDP senator

Emmanuel Orker-Jev, senator representing Benue north-west, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may be plunged into a “bigger crisis” if Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman, steps down. 

The PDP senator spoke on Sunday when he featured on Sunday Politics, a programme on Channels Television.

Ayu has been under pressure in the last few months, with demands for his resignation coming from different quarters, especially the camp of Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state.

Amid the calls for his resignation, the national executive committee (NEC) of the party recently passed a confidence vote in him.

Commenting on the development, Orker-Jev said the calls for Ayu’s resignation should be “negotiated”.

“The biggest enemy of the PDP will be the PDP itself. Every day, I go to bed and wake up very unsatisfied with how things are going,” he said.

“Not to say that things will not be resolved, but it’s not going to be an easy thing. The resignation of the board of trustees chairman is one step to finding the solution to the problem.

“I am a lawyer and I have read the constitution of the party. If Ayu steps down today, what will happen? The deputy national chairman north will still take over if we are going by the constitution, if we are not going by impunity. If the deputy chairman north steps down, then it will go to the deputy chairman south.

“Ayu will step down but it has to be negotiated in such a way that the party will not go into a deeper crisis. The best that can happen is that we call for a special national convention and even change the constitution of the party.”