A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, Akinloye Oyeniyi, says the suspension of former PDP Chairman, Ayu, was orchestrated in line with that of former All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole in March 2020 was sanctioned by the APC executive committee at his ward in Edo State with a High Court in the Federal Capital Territory subsequently ordering his suspension as the APC national chairman.
Similarly, the PDP exco in Igyorov Ward of the Gboko Local Government Area (LGA) in Benue State suspended the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, with immediate effect last Sunday.
“People who were actually playing that script were trying to follow the way Oshiomhole was removed,” Oyeniyi said during a live appearance on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“But PDP and APC don’t operate the same constitution. According to the PDP constitution, it would have to be the National Executive Committee (NEC) that will deal with the all NEC members, including suspension, not ward level, even the state or zonal [exco].
“That was why the NWC under Ayu then said, ‘The chairman goes nowhere.’ But when the issue is now in court, whether the court order is right or wrong, inasmuch as it’s an order from the court, you have to obey first.”
According to Oyeniyi, the former chairman was left no choice but to vacate the position, in the absence of a contradictory order by a superior court.
He added that the PDP is a party that obeys court orders and constituted authority, so there was nothing the party could other than to comply with the court order.
The PDP Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum, took over as the chairman in an acting capacity.
Oyeniyi also spoke out on the issues leading to and resulting from Ayu’s removal, saying those who worked against the PDP in the recent presidential election had won out over those who worked for the party.
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In his view, those who felt aggrieved as a result of the party abandoning its zoning principle to nominate Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate are gradually seeing their agitations taking shape.
“But there are some of us who were attacked – not physically – because we stood our ground that we were going to work for the party. For some of us, it’s not as if we had all our expectations met because the party position is supreme,” he said.
“But there are some people in the same party with whom we were supposed to be working for the same [candidate] and were working against us openly on election day.
“Then a month later, they are now saying, ‘Whatever we have done, you should overlook it and come back together again.’ Some of us are now aggrieved. We that obeyed the party directive are now the aggrieved.”
