By Agunwa Uzendu, Abuja
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Katchy Ononuju has disclosed that the main opposition party may be heading to extinction if the embattled National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, does not surrender his seat.
He said that the major dispute in the party is the struggle for the structure of the party which the northern element is fighting to hijack when it was naturally the turn of the south.
He lamented that the south had remained faithful to the party and funded it while it was in opposition only for the north to come and take over when it was becoming clearer that PDP may win the next general election.
It was learnt that prior to the party’s National convention, it was agreed that the National chairman will vacate his position for a southerner if a northerner emerges as the Presidential candidate of the party. This understanding was what led the party to throw its presidential slot open to all the zones in the country.
Some of the stakeholders backing the sack of Ayu is the South West caucus led by Governor Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Olabode George (Lago) and Olusegu Mimiko (Ondo), the South South led by Wike (Rivers), the South East led by Govs. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Okezie Ikpazu (Abia) North CentralGov. Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Prof Jerry Gana (Niger).
Aside the resignation of Ayu the group is further demanding that Atiku Abubakar should take one tenure and hand over to a southern.
Many leaders in the party who are unhappy over the lopsidedness of the party’s national leadership have teamed up with Wike in demanding that the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, step aside for a substitute from the southern zone.
Ononuju in a telephone conversation with our correspondent said that the party and its Presidential Candidate have started talking with the aggrieved caucuses led by Rivers State ahead of take-off of the Presidential campaign kick-off.
According to Ononuju, the N-PDP led by Atiku that quickly joined forces with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and enthroned the disastrous government of Muhammadu Buhari wants to come back and hijack the party from all fronts even when it was clear that it was the turn of the south.
He said that the initial mistake the party was making was an attempt to center the demand to remove the chairman around Wike and they were lobbying every other person aside Wike until they realized that it was the entire Southern caucus that were making the demand.
He said, “The real truth is that some of them in the North want to cease the party and we may lose the election. So if we lose, who has the control of the party? If you give them the party, they can’t fund it.
“In 2015, we had exactly the same problem. There was internal disagreement due to a negation of zoning in the perception of members from the north. The argument that followed imploded the party, the party did not survive as one united party at the general election.
“We are back to it again due to the inordinate ambition of northern members of the party specifically those in the N-PDP who were disappointed by Buhari. They formed a national coalition which birthed his presidency and after eight years of his presidency, they ran back again to PDP seeking again to take the ticket. That is the root of the current implosion in the PDP.
“PDP has never been known to survive an internal implosion necessitated by argument of zoning, in 2015 the same thing happened. We are not united and nobody seems to be expressing any sense of panic. That is where we are and we are back to the situation in 2015.
“Obi has moved and moved with millions of followership. Same thing with Kwankwaso and his Kano gambit. No house survives when it is divided.
“They have started talking, let watch and see what will come out of it” he said.
The PDP has known no peace since it came out from its National Convention that produced Atiku as its Presidential Candidate. Wike came second behind Atiku in a presidential primary held in Abuja on 29 May and had since then remained aloof to the party and its activities.
The governor felt betrayed by his close friend and ally, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal who stepped down for Atiku Abubakar in the last minute. It is believed in some quarters that if Tambuwal did not step down, Wike could have won the primary election.
The Rivers governor was further angered by the manner in which Atiku overlooked him to pick Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.
However, the party met over the weekend in Porth Hacourt but could not reach a cease fire. The Atiku delegation was led by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, former governorship candidate of the party in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, and Akilu Indabawa, a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
As things stand, the party’s presidential candidate, the National Chairman and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees are all from northern Nigeria.