The division in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on whether the party National Chairman Dr Iyorchia Ayu should resign his position or not has further polarised the party as those in support of Ayu retaining his position said his resignation would do more harm to the party.
Speaking on the development, a chieftain of the party, and former lecturer in the department of political science University of Lagos, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, said Governor Nyesom Wike and everybody insisting on the resignation of Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not have the love of the party at heart.
According to the university don, if Ayu should resign, it would create more problem for the party.
“I agree with those who said Ayu should not step down because, if Ayu steps down, it will create more problem for the party at this point in time, when we are getting ready for an election; we will be sending a wrong signal to party members and the electorate in general, that we are not stable, we don’t know what we are doing, a lot of people will be angry, so let us manage it as it is now,” he said.
On the claim that Ayu promised he would resign if a northerner emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, Dr. Pearse said Ayu never said he was going to step down, the way Wike and others were putting it.
“What Ayu said categorically was that, he would step down if the party said he should step down.
“If it is in the best interest of the party for him to stepdown, he would stepdown. It is the National Executive Committee (NEC) that is the highest authority in the party.
“If the NEC don’t want Ayu to stepdown, is it these people who now want Ayu to stepdown? If those people have respect for the party, have respect for the stability of the party, they won’t be saying Ayu should stepdown,” Dr Pearse said.
Expressing a different view, former Deputy National Publicity secretary of the party, Mr.Diran Odeyemi, said for the party to retain Prof. Ayu as its chairman, then it is taking a high risk which might cost it victory at the polls.
“It is a very sad development to the PDP, it is a bad omen, if we are counting losses, instead of counting moves made, the people who want to disassociate themselves from Atiku Abubakar campaign are not just ordinary politicians, they are capable and experienced politicians, that may rock the boat of the PDP,” he said.
He noted that, though 24 hours is a long time in politics,the leadership of the party should reconsider the stand of those calling for the resignation of Ayu.
“The party leadership should reconsider their demands, and meet their expectations in such a way that Atiku campaign can run smoothly without leaving anybody behind.
“As it is now, the party is working towards defeat, the party is taking a risk that does not worth taking by any aspirant or political party.
“The PDP should learn from history, when five governors left the party, in the build up to the 2015 general elections, we saw the result and we cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result, the risk is too high,” Odeyemi explained.
