Ortom deepens PDP rift, doubles down on Ayu to honour his promise
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“Sidelining people and thinking that you are there and nothing can stop you, is what is creating problems ….
“The National Chairman told the whole world that he would resign if a Northern candidate emerged and today a Northern candidate has emerged.
“So, the question I am asking is where is your integrity if you don’t resign?”
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Samuel Ortom reiterated at the weekend his membership of People Democratic Party (PDP) group of five Governors (G5) and demanded the resignation of National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu to show to Nigerians he is a man of integrity.
“I chose to keep quiet but that does not mean I am against what my colleagues are saying,” the Benue Governor explained in Markurdi.
The four others in the G5 are Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).
Other PDP grandees who are not Governors are also part of the group insisting on the resignation of Ayu to give room for a Southerner to take his post and balance the power structure in the party currently dominated by Northerners.
They have been strident in their demand since Atiku Abubakar muscled his way in May to get the PDP presidential ticket, which rightly belongs to the South in this election cycle, as stated in the constitution of the party.
Ayu has failed to keep the promise he made before the primary in May that he would resign if a Northerner got the presidential ticket. Atiku is from the North East, Ayu North Central.
Ortom repeated his call on Ayu to keep his word, so as to maintain his integrity and also respect the power rotation arrangement in the PDP constitution
His words: “When a child defecates on your lap, you do not cut off the leg, you clean it up or wash it off and move on. The issue is that the PDP leadership has failed ….
“I have not called for the removal of the National Chairman [Ayu] because he comes from where I come from. But I have said that the leadership, including the National Chairman, have failed in solving the problem and I have advised them adequately.
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Resignation, not removal
“When members of the Board of Trustees came to me I told them what they needed to do and I also told the National Chairman what he needed to do,” Ortom added, per Vanguard.
“I cannot go to the extreme level of calling for his removal but I call on him to do the right thing, to do the needful which has not been done, which is wrong.
“That is why I keep saying that the party has not been able to deploy its internal conflict resolution mechanism to solve this problem.
“If they do it we can all flow and work together, but sidelining people and thinking that you are there and nothing can stop you, is what is creating problems.
“So for me, there is still time, the party can work it out. I am in the G5 but because the Chairman is from my state I decided to keep quiet; I have advised him on what to do.
“He should be happy that I am in the G5 [of] which Governor Wike is the leader. He should be happy that I get information from there and give it to him.
“If he takes my advice, fine; but if he doesn’t, that’s fine too. The right thing has to be done to give all comfort because whatever is the demand of Wike today nobody can blame him.
“The Chairman himself promised that he would resign if a Northern presidential candidate emerged; has a Northern candidate not emerged? So why is he not coming out?
Two options for Ayu
“And I have offered two things, it’s either you resign or plead and beg the people why you should continue as National Chairman because you said it yourself, nobody compelled you.
“The National Chairman told the whole world that he would resign if a Northern candidate emerged and today a Northern candidate has emerged. So, the question I am asking is where is your integrity if you don’t resign?
“But there are many ways of doing it; if you plead, if you beg, if you seek for the understanding of the people to accept you the way you are so that we run towards election, it is still okay.
“But the onus is on you to convince them and not to say that you have a four-year tenure. Who compelled you to say that you would resign if the presidential candidate came from the North?
“I chose to keep quiet but that does not mean I am against what my colleagues are saying.”