A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has said the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, is compulsory and not a constitutional matter.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV programme on Wednesday night, George said the calls for Ayu’s resignation were a moral issue that is needed to unify the party.
George added that the continued stay of Ayu in the office does not show inclusiveness and sensitivity.
The member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) also disagreed with the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that Ayu’s resignation must follow due process.
He said, “We are not talking about removing him or forcing him to resign. What we are saying is Senator Ayu by himself stated that peradventure the presidential candidate emerges from the north, he would resign. So why is he sticking to the point of our constitution?
“What we are talking about is purely a moral issue. Once we use the same moral issue to allow Atiku Abubakar to compete at the primaries; President Buhari is from the North, should another Northerner replace him? Doesn’t that affect inclusivity?
“If he is talking purely on a legal issue, no, that is not what we are saying; if we use the same moral compass to allow him to compete if we zoned the position, would he have emerged? It is not a fixated thing that can’t be fixed.
“We are not talking on a constitutional issue of Ayu resigning or not, what we are saying is that on a moral basis, resign as national chairman.”
Wike Camp Pulls Out
Recall that the camp of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike pulled out of the party’s Campaign Council and vowed not to partake in Atiku’s campaign activities pending Ayu’s resignation.
Naija News reports that the Wike camp made the decisions at a strategic meeting held in Port Harcourt and concluded in the early hours of Wednesday.
It was gathered that the Wike Camp decided to hold the meeting following the vote of confidence passed on Ayu as the party’s national chairman by the National Executive Committee (NEC) despite their demand for his resignation.
In a resolution read by a former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Bode George, the Wike camp insisted that its members will not work with Atiku until Ayu resigns and allow an acting Chairman from the South to lead the party.
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