…Party to publish income and expenditure account in December
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, has said that he was given a mandate to re-establish the party to power and not to loot or be reckless with party funds.
Ayu was speaking while welcoming the Forum of Elected Ex-Officio Members of the party who paid him a solidarity visit at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
He added that he has directed the party’s finance department to uphold an update the party’s income and expenditure account for presentation to the party’s National Executive Committee at the first-year commemoration of the current NWC in December.
He further said that this was his first reaction to charges against him in the media of bribery and illegal payments to members of the party’s National Working Committee members.
Ayu said he had many faults as a human being but stealing was not one of them, noting that the present NWC was being guided by the principles of transparency and accountability.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications Simon Imobo-Tswam, he said, “The PDP was not founded to be in opposition. We founded the party to access power and develop the country and my historic task is to return the party to power. I won’t be chairman forever, for now my preoccupation is to return the party to power. I did not come to steal, my public service record is there.
“I have been a leader of the National Assembly. I have been a minister many times. As a person, I have many faults, but stealing is not one of them. I am conscious of my place in history, and the NWC that I lead is guided by the twin-principles of transparency and accountability.
“You may be reading many things and expecting my reaction. If we don’t always talk, it is because we want to maintain and build cohesion in the party. We don’t want continuous altercations in the PDP family. Our eyes are on the big picture, which is winning the 2023 general elections.”
Continuing he stated, “Let us not lose focus, let us keep our eyes glued on the big picture. Everything else is secondary, we took office because there was crisis in the party.
The national chairman stressed that the party does not want to keep moving from crisis to crisis, which he said was not good for the party, especially where the crisis is artificial.
He also said, “The NWC met and discussed the issue of housing allowance. It was unanimously agreed that no bribe or any form of illegality took place. A statement has since been issued to that effect and the matter has now been laid to rest.”
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the forum, Hon. Yunana Iliya, said the members were at the party secretariat to express solidarity with the national chairman, pledging their unalloyed loyalty to the Ayu-led NWC.
“We stand by the recent vote of confidence passed on you by the highest decision-making body of the party, the National Executive Committee and we urge all party faithful to close ranks in PDP’s rescue work,” he added.
