The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday, worsened as four state youth leaders in South West have dissociated from the zonal youth leader’s action for asking the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign.
The state youth leaders in Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos States tackled the South West youth zonal leader of the party, Seyi Bamidele, for using the platform to call for Ayu’s resignation without consulting them.
Bamidele had on Friday said the national chairman of the party has become unfit to continue in office as chairman.
The zonal youth leader in a statement said he aligned himself with the position of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and others demanding Ayu’s resignation
But, on Saturday, four out of six states youth leaders in the region, issued a joint statement and dissociated from the call for Ayu’s resignation.
The leaders, Folorunso Ekundayo (Ondo); Oyejide Olasunkumi (Ogun); Amerijoye Temitope (Ekiti ); Agboola Abdulfatai (Lagos) in a jointly signed press statement passed a vote of confidence on Ayu-led National Working Committee of the party.
The statement read partly, “The state youth leaders in Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Lagos States hereby state unequivocally that we were not consulted, informed or aware of the release made on Friday, September 23, 2022 by Mr Seyi Bamidele, the South West Zonal Youth Leader of the party concerning the state of the party.
“We want to state categorically that the entire nation is waiting for the PDP and we must do all we can not to scramble the hope of the nation. In light of this, we want to implore our leaders to embrace peace and find a common ground for meaningful engagements in the interest of the nation and the suffering Nigerian people.
“We strongly opined that we must go into next year’s elections as a formidable and virile opposition party that is capable to control the machinery of government.
“We want to say that the State PDP Youth Leaders in the South West region are fully behind the candidature of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. We also pass a vote of confidence on Dr Iyorchia Ayu-led NWC of the party.
“Finally, the youth wing of our party in the South-West zone has resolved to try our best possible to ensure victory, mobilising the critical sectors for the party at all levels in the 2023 elections.”
