Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Following the ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its 2023 governorship ticket in Delta State, some members of the party, on Wednesday, protested at the National Secretariat of the PDP, demanding the resignation of its National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
The protesters, acting under the aegis of Concerned Deltans for Good Governance, were at the secretariat, to register their displeasure over what they described as the refusal of the party chairman to obey an order of the Federal High Court which sacked Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the PDP standard bearer in next year’s governorship election in Delta State.
Recall that the court order delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo declared Olorogun David Edevbie as the lawfully nominated and authentic governorship candidate of the party.
It also directed the PDP to forward Edevbie’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and ordered the electoral body to accord him the full rights and privileges due to him as the rightful candidate of the party.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions, such as ‘Ayu lacks integrity to push PDP to victory,’ ‘Obey the Abuja FHC judgement,’ “BoT help Delta PDP before NWC kills the party’ among others.
Addressing reporters during the protest, the leader of the group, Chris Anthony, accused Ayu of 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 judgement.”
