A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sani Umar, has said the call for the removal of the party’s chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, is ill-timed, with the 2023 general election just around the corner.
Umar said this while speaking with Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloye on Politics Today on Thursday evening, monitored by our correspondent. He said although he didn’t condemn the call for the chairman’s removal, those who made the call were “asking for too much.
“I think it is not appropriate at this time. I am not saying the call is out of order, but it is coming at a very wrong time. The timing for ‘Ayu must Go’ is not the correct timing. One, Ayu has been elected, he is even learning the ropes of running the party, understanding the issues of the party, and trying to move the party forward. There are two ways you can remove him; it is either you lay a complaint to the National Executive Council of our party and say he is guilty of certain offences, or he can resign by himself.”
Umar, who was Senior Special Assistant to former Vice President Namadi Sambo on Media and Publicity, explained that only two chairmen had ever resigned in the party’s history, noting that he did not see Ayu resigning, especially in the face of the coming elections.
“If he’s not going to resign, removing him will be the most difficult thing, because in the history of the party, only three chairmen, or two chairmen, have resigned in our party, and it was not easy. Bamanga Tukur resigned as the National Chairman of the Party, it was not easy. Adamu Mu’azu resigned as the National Chairman, it was not easy; it was a long process before they finally resigned. So, I do not see Ayu resigning at this moment when we are fast approaching elections”.
He added that those who were making the call for the removal of the party’s chairman, were simply asking for too much at an inappropriate time, and that heeding the call will negatively affect the PDP.
