On Wednesday, members of the G60 of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives applauded the decision of the former PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, to withdraw the suit against the party.
Spokesman of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) in the House, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, who gave the group’s decision after an online meeting during which the lawmakers reviewed the court ruling, urged all the PDP governors to “take the right decision this evening to resolve that tomorrow’s election should happen and a North Central person should emerge as chairman of our party.”
To this end, the G60 members unanimously agreed that PDP should “go ahead tomorrow and do the needful, which is to fulfil the provision of Section 47(c) to elect a national chairman from the same zone where the former occupant, which is Ayu, comes from.”
He explained that Senator Ayu’s “application for withdrawal was filed at the Court of Appeal, Makurdi Judicial Division, in appeal number CS/MK/88/2024 in the suit number MHC/85/2023. The appellant herein has wholeheartedly withdrawn the appeal against the respondent, and this has brought to an end the last and only excuse that has been used by the outgoing Damagun Acting Chairman to attempt to hold on to power.
“And it’s so painful that this is coming now, but at the same time, it’s also not late. And the NEC can now, by this decision, proceed with electing a North Central candidate as National Chairman of the PDP tomorrow in view of Ayu’s withdrawal of the case against the party.
“So we, the Opposition Lawmakers’ Coalition of PDP, the G60 federal lawmakers, received the news of this withdrawal by Ayu with so much excitement, and this has also brought to rest the arguments on why we should not have an acting chairman tomorrow. So with this decision, Damagu will revert back to his position as Deputy National Chairman of the party tomorrow, and the party will move ahead to appoint an Acting National Chairman for our great party.
“And you need to know that this is in line with the provisions of Article 47(c) of the PDP Constitution, which mandates the NEC tomorrow to proceed to choose an acting or permanent replacement from the zone or area where the former occupant originated from. The former occupant is Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who has now removed the case where he’s challenging his removal and claim to the chairmanship to pave the way for the party to move forward. That is a great sacrifice.
“It shows a high level of patriotism in terms of his love for the party to move forward. He has a case about which he’s arguing. He has things he feels were not done the right way.”
Hon. Ugochinyere, however, expressed grave concern over the plot by some “members of the NWC who say that Ayu should remain in office because they are pending cases.
“So now those cases have been removed, and we believe that the NWC should also sit to take that right decision this evening, even before the NEC meeting tomorrow. And at this juncture, I will also commend our governors, who are meeting this night, for taking positions to help move the party forward. As they’re already aware, just like all of us here, the last obstacle with which they were making the argument that Damagun should remain in office has also been removed.”
When asked about the G60’s choice candidate as the next PDP National Chairman, Hon. Ugochinyere said: “At the level of the G60, even at our meeting yesterday and this afternoon, when we had our online meeting when this development came in, the issue of supporting a candidate came up, but we advised ourselves that we should remain on the path of advocacy for the right thing to be done because we enjoy cross-sectional alliances and support from a series of everyone because of the good work we are doing.
“So coming to narrow down on any candidate would divide our goals because there are some of our members who are from Kogi; for instance, there are two or three candidates from Kogi. There’s the former deputy governor from Kogi, Salah, who is running. There’s one of our members who is from Benue. Suswan is also running from Benue. There are those from Kwara who are begging Bukola to also run. So there’s a series of different candidates from different parts of the country, so we don’t want to get involved.
“Let the best emerge; let the NEC resolve on the person they feel has that capacity that will lead us as the People’s Democratic Party, not as the PDP or APC party. Anything they decide is in the interest of the party; they have our support.”
Hon. Ugochinyere also applauded the decision of the Court of Appeal “for ending the madness that led to the level of people going to court to secure an injunction to stop rightful members of the party from attending NEC meetings, which was a childish desperation by people who feel that the institution of the judiciary can be used for advancing their personal political abracadabra.
“So I want to, we want to appreciate the Court of Appeal for okaying and approving that Uche Secondus, our former National Chairman, and Celestino Omeha, the former Governor of Rivers, and other party leaders, the former Deputy Speaker, can attend the NEC meeting tomorrow without anybody obstructing them.
“And not only that, the NJC must also go in to look into how some of these expatriate injunctions, especially those ones that have to do with political matters that were unnecessarily procured, are also procured because there was no reason for a political matter that is very contentious for somebody to use an experte order after a few hours after filing the case to stop people from attending ordinary NEC meetings. So we appreciate the Court of Appeal for removing that obstruction and allowing them to participate in that meeting. And this is why every member of the party must understand that this is a trying moment.
“So for all of us in the opposition coalition, we received these two developments with excitement, excitement in the sense that the people are beginning to make sacrifices and institutions are beginning to do the right thing just for us to move forward.
While responding to a question on the threat issued by the G60 lawmakers to pull out of the party over the lingering crisis, Hon. Ugochinyere said, “We say that if the necessary things are not done, that we’ll have to reconsider.
“And that reconsideration was like a last resort. It wasn’t our first option. There were a series of options for the part that would lead to the inevitable. And then we said that day that we prayed that the inevitable did not come to light. And because of that, we are still on the same path, which is that we want the right thing to be done.
“And we’re getting positive responses from all key stakeholders in the party. And I don’t want to say it is not a personal issue between Damagun and the party, and that’s why we keep appealing to him. The party has been very supportive.”
While stressing that the G60 members do not need to flex muscle with the party with the recent development, he argued that “if Damagun goes further tomorrow, not to do the needful, which is to invoke the provisional section 47(c) of the PDP constitution, then you can know that he’s indeed on a dangerous mission, which is to destroy the party, because there’s no reason.
“You are not even supposed to remain there, because you’re supposed to call for a meeting for the purpose of filling the vacancy. And you claim that the reason you have been in office for over a year is because Ayu was in court.And now Ayu, this afternoon, has withdrawn the case that is in court, thereby opening the way for the right thing to be done.
“So as long as the NEC is sitting tomorrow, he has little or no say. They can take him out of the place and go on with their meeting.So the most important thing is that members of the NEC are in town and are ready for their meeting tomorrow. And I’ve received this news with so much excitement that now we can make progress and avert being the kind of people who played the politics of the ANPP in the days of Ali Modu-Sheriff and so on and so forth.
“So I don’t think he’s going to insist on having his way. There is nobody who loves the party and would insist on it. Now, since there’s no legal restraint, and, you know, this thing, he’s now saying he should continue to be in office. At the same time, the governors of the party are so worried about the situation in the party, and they have been meeting a series of times in the last few days to find their way out.
“And they’re also excited about the news that this matter has also been discontinued. So we are very hopeful and confident that when the governors meet tonight before 9 p.m., they will come out with a strong decision, which is that they’re going into the meeting as one political party, united with a common agenda, which is to provide stable leadership that will give us an opportunity to rebuild, rebrand, and reform the party.
“And even more important, a rebrand and seeking bigger alliances that will help us to be able to play that role as Africa’s leading opposition political party and have a chance to control power, both at the state levels and at the centre.”
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