Clark attacks Tambuwal, asks Ayu to resign over Atiku’s emergence

National leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, yesterday, called on the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorcha Ayu, to resign over the outcome of the PDP presidential primary, where Atiku Abubakar emerged as the party’s standard bearer.

He said the emergence of a northern candidate proved that Ayu is subservient to the North and that he betrayed the expectations of the South, warning that the development is an indication that 2023 elections may have “deleterious” consequences.

In a statement obtained by The Guardian, Clark stated: “Most disturbing is what happened at the Special National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja on Saturday, May 28. I followed the live broadcast of the proceedings keenly until about 12.30 a.m. on Sunday, the 29th.

“I was alarmed by the outrageous and Machiavelli manner in which Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, was so apparently “arranged” to announce his withdrawal from the contest, at the last minute; his speech changed the mood of the event. That was done to foist another northerner as the party’s candidate; having regard to the fact that Tambuwal was the only aspirant from the whole of the North West, which had about 192 delegates at the convention.

“What Tambuwal did was not only dishonourable but also a serious electoral abnormality and a tragic betrayal of national patriotism for hidebound interests.”

He said the development justified Mr. Peter Obi’s withdrawal from the PDP, both as a member and as an aspirant, few days before the party’s primary, saying: “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 flayed Ayu for visiting Tambuwal to congratulate him and hailing him as “the hero of the convention.”

“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,” he added.