By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Former Senate President, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has emerged as the consensus candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of its October 31 national elective convention.
Ayu’s emergence followed hours of continuous meetings by PDP stakeholders of Northern extraction in Abuja in the past 72 hours.
With Ayu’s emergence as the north consensus candidate for the PDP chairmanship slot, the zone may think it is not excluded from fielding a candidate who is a Muslim. Ayu is a Christian from the Middle Belt, an area many-core northerners believe is a mixed breed of North and South.
Ayu was chosen after two other contenders; a former Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema and Senator Abdul Ningi were prevailed upon to step down. Both of them are Muslims.
According to the Punch, the northern stakeholders meeting earlier scheduled to hold late on Wednesday was postponed till Thursday when it became apparent that the plan by governors to present Ayu as a consensus candidate was in jeopardy.
The newspaper quoted a source at the meeting: “The level of mobilization for the meeting was huge and those present were prepared to put the choice to a vote but governors knew this so they postponed the meeting till today.”
Ayu’s profile (culled from Wikipedia)
Ayu is a former Nigerian Senator who was elected President of the Senate during the Nigerian Third Republic (1992–1993).
He later served in various Ministerial positions in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007.
Ayu was born in Gboko in Benue State. He taught sociology at the University of Jos, including courses on the art and science of Marxism, and was the Chairman of the Jos University chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
After entering politics, he was influential among the majority of Tiv people in his home state of Benue.
He was elected Senator in the Third Republic on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and became Senate President. In November 1993, the Senate impeached Ayu, who was a strong opponent of the Interim National Government established after the elected president Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola had been prevented from taking office. However, he later became the Minister for Education in General Sani Abacha’s military government.
Ayu was said to be the political godfather of George Akume, governor of Benue State from 1999 to 2007.
He became politically relevant after assisting in the 1998-1999 campaign to elect President Olusegun Obasanjo on the PDP. Obasanjo appointed him Industry Ministry from 1999 to 2000.
Ayu was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs in July 2003.
In 2005, Obasanjo dismissed Ayu, giving no reason.
After falling out with Obasanjo, Ayu left the PDP and joined the Action Congress (AC). He was head of the campaign to elect Vice President Atiku Abubakar as president on the AC platform in April 2007.
In February 2007, Ayu was arrested and later arraigned by a federal court on charges of terrorism. He was later released on bail. In March 2007, he spoke out against the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include Atiku’s name on the list of candidates.
