Why Ayu should not resign

Sir:  The call by certain forces for the resignation of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, is not altruistic. It is mainly borne out of ego-tripping. The 2023 general election is about six months away.

The electioneering period will commence a few weeks from now. No serious political party that wants to wrestle power from the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government should be talking about change in the leadership of the national working committee (NWC) of the party at this moment.

The constitution of the party clearly stipulates that in the event that the national chairman resigns or is removed, his successor should come from the same geopolitical zone as him. Have those clamouring for the shift of the position to the southern parts of Nigeria take cognizance of the constitution of the party? If Ayu is removed and his successor comes from the South, will it not have a severe adverse constitutional effect on the party going into the general election? Should the constitution of the party be by-passed or be circumvented to satisfy the bloated ego of those agitating for the removal of Ayu?

In 2007, Sen. Ahmadu Alli, from Kogi State (North Central) was the national chairman of the party. The presidential candidate of the party at the time, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was also from the North. There was no agitation or clamour that Ahmadu should resign because Yar’Adua was also from the North. Alli only resigned after the election when Yar’Adua had won the election and taken his position as the president of the country. That scenario should be replicated at the current situation in the PDP.

If former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the party, wins the election and takes office as president, then the national chairmanship position should be rotated back to the southern part of the country. In a contest there are two possibilities. Victory. Defeat. What if Atiku loses the general election, would the national chairmanship of the party be given back to Ayu if he resigns now?

Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, was not the only presidential aspirant that contested against Atiku. Whereas other aspirants had taken their defeat in their strides with equanimity, Wike has remained implacable.

The tantrums of Wike since he lost the presidential and vice presidential nominations has justified why Atiku chose Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as his preferred running mate. The party has not offended Wike in any way by denying him certain benefits this time around. Wike has benefited from the party far more than the party has benefited from him.

• Ifeanyi Maduako wrote from Abuja.