Former Senate President and National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, is an academic of no mean status. He is one of the few politicians who have paid their dues. The Benue-born academic has earned the right to play the peacock in the political square. When recently last year I had the opportunity of meeting him at his home, I was not disappointed in some of his views as a tested democrat.
Since his emergence as the leader of the PDP, I have observed what may be considered as an intense battle between the letter and spirit or about law and morality. Amidst the cacophony of voices that has trailed his election, the outrage against his continuous occupation of the national chairmanship position is not about to wane.
Sadly, Ayu’s impartiality seemed to have been blown away during the conduct of the PDP presidential primary that was predicted to be a straight fight between former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and the Governor of Rivers State, Barr. Nyesom Wike. In what many observers have labeled as an act of betrayal, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State unbelievably stepped down and requested his delegates to vote for the former Customs officer. Tambuwal’s act proved decisive as this would eventually give victory to the ‘Wazirin Adamawa’.
No one, including yours sincerely, ever envisioned a situation where Nigerians would end up with oldies, Atiku Abubakar and Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu, emerging as presidential candidates. While many had anticipated that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was poised to carry the day in the APC convention, the waves created by the Wike camp in the PDP equally posed sleepless moments for many presidential aspirants. When eventually Atiku scaled through the hurdle to become the PDP candidate for the 2023 presidential poll; internal bickering tore through the party. Instead of emerging as a strong party committed to defeating the APC, the PDP became a rancorous front where those who should be at the forefront of reconciliation took to the dancing halls over a victory deemed by many as fraudulent. The defection of Mr. Peter Obi from the PDP to the Labour Party (LP), ahead of the PDP’s convention in Abuja, was a clear indication that money would be a major determinant.
The display of obscene wealth as demonstrated in the daylight corruption of the primaries of both parties was an indication that politicians were still not willing to forget the past when electoral triumph was dependent on money. In the demand for a new approach of picking candidates devoid of financial inducement, most of the delegates refused to forego the greasing of their palms in deciding where the pendulum swings to. The party primaries ended in cacophony of voices, but the rancour in the PDP was overwhelming. The votes of the APC primary winner, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, reduced other presidential aspirants as non-starters. In the PDP, the pro-Wike group swore that if only Tambuwal had not stepped down for Atiku, victory was already assured for the Rivers governor. To make matters worse, after the primaries, Ayu had declared that Governor Tambuwal was the hero of the convention. The anti-Atiku elements would cry foul, insisting that the PDP National Chairman, who was supposed to be an impartial umpire, was the major architect of Wike’s failure to win the party’s presidential ticket.
The former governor of Plateau State and strong member of the Wike camp, Senator Jonah Jang, believed that Senator Ayu was the major plotter for Wike’s failed bid for the PDP ticket. Describing the role of the former Senate President as that of a referee who was ab initio determined to favour a particular candidate, the pro-Wike camp this week declared that the only means to resolving the party’s quagmire over the fallout of the PDP’s primaries was for Ayu to resign his position. When the Rivers State governor spoke to newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, he re-echoed the same demand for Ayu’s resignation. That the smoke of dissension between Atiku and Wike is about becoming a conflagration calls for an urgent response to avoid an escalation of the problem. Atiku’s response to Wike’s request on Ayu is devoid of political wisdom. Atiku, many insiders have maintained, had assured PDP stakeholders that in the event a Northern candidate became the presidential candidate of the party, Ayu would have no option but step down to allow for the emergence of a Southerner for the national chairmanship in line with the zoning formula of the PDP. Now that a Northerner has emerged as the presidential candidate of the party, why the fudge over attempts to do the needful?
For Atiku to insist that the decision for Ayu’s resignation is personal and should be left to the Benue-born politician amounts to being clever by half. Considering the issues confronting the PDP and the need to put its house in order, no sacrifice should be considered too much for the party plotting the defeat of the APC in 2023. If Ayu’s retention of the national chairmanship position will eventually turn out an albatross, why not sacrifice such a position to make the party stronger in order to wrest power from the incumbent administration? For those who think Wike is simply a shaking of leaves on a mulberry tree that is soon to go away; they may not be entirely correct. Those holding to the constitution of the party that says that Ayu’s replacement can only be ratified through an emergency national convention may not be the only reason they have against the ratification of a new national chairman. What is needed is to look into the spirit of the letter that calls for equity and justice. If it requires that an emergency convention be organised to ratify a new national chairman, who says that cannot be done? What is lacking in resolving the Ayu quandary is determination on the part of some party leaders to defend their interest.
What will Ayu lose if he decides to resign in order to resolve the needless controversy trailing his obstinacy to stick to the national chairmanship position? If he once promised that he would resign his position in the event of a Northerner becoming a presidential candidate for the party, why is he reneging? Is allowing Ayu to continue as National Chairman more important than uniting the party for the electoral battle against the APC next year?
For Atiku, there are still more rivers to cross. Pretending that Wike does not matter is a lie that should be believed at one’s peril. One may not be too comfortable with the manner the Rivers State helmsman has conducted himself since his defeat in the primaries. However, must we not allow a man to cry after being beaten through an alleged foul process? For a man who stood in the gap and held the party when others completely abandoned it, treating him in the manner he was treated is not the best way to reward him. Yes, he may have proved irritable in exposing the way he was mistreated, but can any of the presidential aspirants of the party do what Wike did to the PDP in terms of funding?
The presidential candidate remains at the centre of who determines the outcome of the current feud in the party. If the PDP eventually wins in 2023, Atiku will turn out to be the major beneficiary. The responsibility is now on him to come down from his high horse and walk through the process of reconciling with Wike who believes, rightly or wrongly, that his defeat was orchestrated by Ayu. There is always a time when, for the greater glory of the future, someone eats the humble pie for the bigger dream. Allowing the Wike predicament to perpetuate with needless drama and tension can prove disastrous for the PDP.
Dwelling on the letter, rather than the spirit, for resolution of the Wike conundrum in the PDP can weaken genuine efforts geared for unification. It is high time for the major opposition party to unite itself as the “house divided against itself cannot stand.” If the party allows Wike to defect to another party, the chances for victory for the PDP are likely to be dimmed. Since two wrongs cannot make a right, Atiku should, out of absolute necessity, embrace the path of reconciliation in order not to fritter his last chance at realising his presidential ambition.
We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →
Join Our WhatsApp Channel
