The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is bleeding, so National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu must resign to save it from implosion, a former presidential aspirant, Dr. Sam Ohuabunwa, has said.
He said Dr Ayu should toe the path of honour and step aside for peace to reign.
Ohuabunwa made this call yesterday while featuring on Channels Politics Today.
He said if the party must get the backing of many Nigerians, it must quickly evolve an internal mechanism to resolve the intra-party issues else it risks losing the 2023 election.
The party has been enmeshed in crisis following the emergence of Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate.
The camp of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is leading the push for Ayu’s exit for power balance between the North and South in the party.
But Ayu, who also hails from the North, has been adamant he would not resign.
Ohuabunwa, who believes the South has little stake in the party’s political equation, said the right thing was for Ayu to leave.
He said: “Politicians have been painted with several kinds of brushes so much that you can’t rely on their words. One of them is that they are not trustworthy; another is that many of them are not principled.
“I have met Dr. Iyorcha Ayu. He looks to me like a principled person. He is a man I think means well. But, I do not think we need to remind him or quote what he said on his resignation if he said that as reported.
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“If I am leading a party that is about to go to war and I understand that the sentiment of the people of Nigeria is inclusiveness, making sure that we have the balancing in the political equation, if I were the leader of the party, I would not need anybody to remind me that we can change this mix.
“The South said they wanted the presidency, but the party decided against its constitution to allow it to go north for expediency. And many people in the party who believe in party supremacy are trying to live with that.
“Now, you create a situation that the leadership hierarchy of the party is from a section of the country.
“From the BoT to the chairman to the presidential candidate, they are all northerners.
“We don’t even need an external person to tell the PDP they need to do some rejigging to make the party look inclusive.
“In the Southeast, we have nothing to show for it and that puts us at a tight end. If that is what he said, he should follow the path of honour and do the needful.
“Assuming he didn’t say that, but as a leader of the party who has brought us to this point, he should make the sacrifice, do what needs to be done to be sure that Nigerians are happy with PDP and members of PDP are equally happy with themselves.
“So, if he needs to step down for that to happen, he should do so.
“It is the best thing for us to take the necessary action that will unite the party so that we can face the opposing parties in the election.
“The chairman of the party has the onerous mission and responsibility to ensure that the party does not break apart or continue to be divided.
“Nobody can go to war with this kind of division, unhappiness and complaints within the party.
“I advise Dr. Iyorcha Ayu, who I think is a man of honour, to take the responsibility as the father of the party. He shouldn’t be arguing with anybody. He should avoid stoking more fire.
“To be sincere with you and for some of us who are not used to mincing words, we speak as we are led to; every right-thinking member of the party is worried about the festering and discordant situation.”
On why the issue is lingering, he said it shows that the opposition party does not have adequate internal conflict resolution capacity.
“All those political visits to Rivers State should bother me as a chairman of the party.
“If I were the chairman, I won’t sleep well and the next morning, I would fly to Port Harcourt to pour water on those shows and close this chapter so that we can move forward. This party is bleeding right now.”