Twenty-four hours after the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation announced the appointment of its key members, stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), across the country have expressed divergent views on the composition of the council.
While a cross section of those interviewed support the move by Atiku, others have however expressed displeasure on the development.
On Wednesday, PDP leaders from the South West said it was the turn of the geopolitical zone to produce the national chairman of the party, insisting that Iyorchia Ayu must step aside.
On Thursday, former national vice chairman of the PDP (South West, Bode George, warned that the PDP may lose the 2023 elections if Ayu fails to resign.
He warned that the party’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku, must not take PDP members from the South for granted, or else, it would be suicidal.
He accused some of the leaders of being responsible for the crisis in the party because of what he described as their flawed personal interests.
“With two weeks to the commencement of campaign season that we believe will usher in a People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), government into Aso Rock in 2023, unfortunately, I am compelled to address a ‘clear and present danger’ that might thwart this window of opportunity afforded the PDP,” he said.
On the other hand, Lagos State chapter of the PDP has said the constitution of the party should be followed in deciding the fate of Ayu.
It asked those calling for the immediate resignation of Ayu to wait until after the 2023 general elections for a mini convention to address the issue of change in leadership to ensure that it is done “seamlessly and without chaos.”
Chairman of the party in the state, Philip Aivoji noted that forcing Ayu out will not address the regional imbalance that Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde and former Deputy National Chairman South-West of the party, Bode George hope to achieve by forcing Ayu, noting that the national chairman would still come from the North under the subsisting PDP constitution.
The PDP chairman in Lagos noted that while Makinde and George are fighting for the South West zone in insisting on Ayu’s immediate resignation, he said their positions are personal and do not reflect the position of the PDP in Lagos State.
On the composition of campaign council announced by the Atiku, Aivoji noted that the South is represented in the team by Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
PDP gubernatorial candidate in Borno, Mohammed Jajari said the presidential campaign list is comprehensive. The party’s publicity secretary in the state, Mr Amos Adziba, also said the campaign list reflected the interest of all interests across the country.
The party in Osun State also said it is in support of Ayu. It faulted the call by Makinde that Ayu should resign his position.
Caretaker Chairman of the party, Dr Akindele Adekunle, stated that there was no meeting where the South West agreed to call for the removal of the national chairman, stressing that “the call is not a mainstream position of the party in the region.”
A PDP leader in Rivers State, Princewill Dike, has said the Campaign Council list released on Thursday, by the party, which has the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, as the Director-General, was a clear agenda against the South.
Dike, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, said it was a confirmation of Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike’s agitation against the loopsided appointments in the party, which glaringly were tilted to the North.
He stated that Governor Wike has been fighting against inequality and social injustice meted out to the South in the party, which some persons have mistaken to a personal fight.
The legal expert said the appointment of Tambuwal as the Director General of the Campaign Council was to worsen the pains of the South within the major opposition party.
Former Secretary-General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony Sani, said nobody should fault the composition of the campaign team of Atiku for the 2023 general elections.
Sani told our Correspondent hat those faulting the composition are mere spectators who may not know why Atiku composed such a campaign team.
He said it is unwise for spectators outside the ring to begin to dictate to an actor to drop a winning plan.
“As someone who aspires to be President through garnering majority votes and spread across the country, Atiku is expected to design his winning game plans,” Sani said.
This is even as the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), said it did not want to be dragged into commenting on individual’s campaign team.
Asked to comment on Atiku’s campaign team, the Spokesman of NEF, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, simply said, “We don’t want to comment on individual’s political campaign organisation for now.”
A former member of the House of Representatives and chieftain of the PDP, Bitrus, Kaze has also faulted the emergence of Governor Tambuwal as the Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
He noted that the unhealthy development completely undermined the sense of unity and fairness the party was formed on in 1998.
Kaze disclosed this while reacting to the announcement of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, saying that has confirmed the fear of most members of the party who faulted the emergence of Atiku, the presidential candidate in May from Northern Nigeria.
Former National Vice Chairman of the PDP in the South East, Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu in his reaction to the recent unveiling of the party’s Campaign Council said the north utilised their potential skills in politics to get to where they are today.
The state deputy chairman of PDP, Abia North, Ama Abraham said the party in the state was not concerned about the composition of the presidential campaign team, but decried the continued stay in office of the national chairman, Ayu, a Northerner, while another Northerner is the party’s standard bearer.”
Also speaking, Publicity Secretary of PDP in Oyo State, Akeem Olatunji, said the party in the South West does not have issues with the appointment of Sokoto State Governor, Tambuwal, as the Director-General of the party’s presidential campaign organization. He said the South-West has issues with the national chairmanship position, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Speaking with our correspondent he said the party in the zone does not also have issues with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who is from the North-East and the vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State Governor, who is from the South-South.
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