The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Publicity Secretaries in the South West zone have expressed support for Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, as the National Chairman of the party, saying the continuous calls in some quarters for his resignation is to sabotage the party’s efforts at winning the 2023 general polls.
The scribes made the statement on Saturday, at a media briefing attended by scribes from; Lagos, Hakeem Amode, Ondo, Kennedy Peretei, Ekiti, Raphael ‘Wumi Adeyanju and Ogun state, Bankole Akinloye, held at the PDP Secretariat, Agege Motor Road, Lagos.
Peretei, who briefed on behalf of the group in a statement with the title: “PDP SouthWest Spokespersons Stand With Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman,” stressed that they opposed resignation of the National Chairman “to save our country from imminent total collapse.”
According to Peretei,” On behalf of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, State Chapters in Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos state we the Publicity Secretaries in these states respectively dissociate ourselves from calls for the resignation of Dr Iyorchia Ayu as PDP National Chairman.
“We wish to affirm our faithfulness to the PDP constitution which clearly stipulates procedure for leadership election and removal.
“As the only political party that has not changed name or logo since its establishment in 1998, the party cannot afford to appear unserious.
“We do not see any justification for the resignation of our National Chairman, especially at this very critical stage of preparation for elections.
“Ayu was duly elected at a properly constituted National Convention with a four year mandate and recently received vote of confidence of the party’s National Executive Committee, at its 97th meeting in Abuja.
“Our party has championed the sanctity of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended) . We must therefore do everything to maintain this sanctity.
“Any action that undermines the spirit of the party’s constitution at this crucial stage can only be considered as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the party’s efforts at winning in the coming general elections.
“We appeal to the leadership of our party in the Southwest region to work together to respect the Constitution of our party because, if we cannot respect our own rules, guidelines and constitution as a party, how will Nigerians trust us to respect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when voted into the office.
“The concern of our zonal leaders and their determination to protect the interest of our members against any form of marginalization is deeply appreciated.
“However, our focus should be directed mainly to encouraging our teeming members to rally round our candidates vying for the Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship positions and ensure that they win elections.
“The leadership of the party in the aforementioned states pledge our unwavering support and unalloyed commitment to our Presidential Candidate, former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
“The mission to rescue, rebuild and redirect Nigeria is task that must be done, to save our country from imminent total collapse.”
