Dr Iyorchia Ayu, PDP National Chairman
By Our Reporter
Members of a group, Concerned Deltans for Good Governance, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stormed the PDP national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday to demand the resignation of the party National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
The Delta PDP members, who were protesting in front of the party secretariat, said they were demanding the resignation of the national party chairman because of his alleged refusal to obey an order of the Federal High Court which sacked Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the PDP governorship candidate for the next year’s election in the state.
It would be recalled that Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Abuja High Court had declared Olorogun David Edevbie as the lawfully nominated and authentic candidate of the PDP, and invalidated that of Hon. Oborevwori on account of alleged discrepancies in his educational credentials.
The court order consequently, directed the PDP to forward Edevbie’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC was also ordered to accord him the full rights and privileges due to him as the rightful candidate of the party.
The protesters who demanded the party’s compliance with the court ruling carried placards bearing some inscriptions, like: “Ayu lacks the integrity to push PDP to victory”, “Obey the Abuja FHC judgement”, “BoT help Delta PDP before NWC kills the party” among others.
Leader of the group, Chris Anthony, who addressed journalists at the Wadata Plaza, during the protest, accused Ayu of being a mole and leading the party towards destruction.
He said: “There’s a burning issue in Delta state, and it’s about who is the rightful candidate of the PDP in the state.
“Everyone knows that the PDP in Delta is the majority party, but with the action of the National Chairman of the party, we are beginning to be convinced that Ayu is a mole in the party to trade the fortunes of the party to the opposition.
“We have seen Ayu not just as a mole, but also as an actor playing the script written by the opposition to actualise the emergence of an APC governor in Delta state.
“Ayu lacks the capacity to lead the PDP and so should honourably resign because he has demonstrated gross incompetence in handling the affairs of the party. He should resign. Ayu should resign because he cannot manage the affairs of the party well.
“We are talking about defending the democracy that thrives on the rule of law, but Ayu has willfully refused to obey a simple court judgment.” (PBA)
