North Central PDP Members Seek To Fill  Ayu’s Short-lived Position

In order to fill Dr. Iyorchia Ayu’s short-lived position as national chairman, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) North Central caucus has begun conferring with various party officials. 

The party’s national caucus and national executive committee meetings, which were set for April 17 and 18, 2024, were followed up on by this announcement.

Yesterday, Vanguard gathered in Abuja that consultations among party leaders from the zone has reached an advanced stage.

A usually reliable party source said: “We expect the zone to announce their choice before our NEC.”

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki of Kwara State and Senator Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Ayu’s home state, are among those being considered. It was also revealed that party leaders from the zone met in Abuja last week to fine-tune measures for presenting a united face and avoiding acrimony. Party executives from all six states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that comprise the north central zone, as well as selected elected members, attended the critical meeting.

As a result of the meeting, it was reliably learned that those in attendance agreed that the north central should serve out the remainder of Ayu’s term, while Damagum, who, according to most of them, “has done well in an acting capacity,” should return to his original post as deputy national chairman. 

According to a source at the conference, Plateau State Governor Caleb Muftwang is scheduled to call a zonal caucus meeting to finalise the strategy for achieving this goal.

The source said: “With the litigations over the 2023 elections now over, we expect the party leadership to do the needful to reposition our party for better performance.

“Ayu’s time as chairman has effectively ended and we in the north central have put our heads together and agreed that his replacement should come from among us because the position which was zoned to us in 2023 still subsists. The constitution of our great party makes it so.

“We have been holding meetings on this issue. If you will recall, our state chairmen met here in Abuja, after a meeting with the NWC last Wednesday.’’

When asked about names being considered for the job, the source said: “We are still consulting but I assure you they are people whose names and pedigree are known nationwide.

“Sooner than later His Excellency, the Plateau State governor, Caleb Muftwang, will convene a meeting where final decisions will be taken.

“As party members, we are grateful to Amb. Damagum and his team in the NWC for the good work they’ve so far done. We are asking that our zoning arrangement as contained in our constitution be respected so that Ayu’s replacement should come from his zone.”

Prior to the 2023 general election, the PDP leadership position was designated to the north central region, and Ayu ran unchallenged.

 Ayu was chosen to succeed Prince Uche Secondus, who was sidelined in a power struggle orchestrated by his former political backer, Nyesom Wike. He met a similar fate when he fell out with the Wike-led Group of Five PDP Governors, known as G-5, as a direct result of the party’s presidential primary election, which former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won.

Following a series of lawsuits that hounded Ayu’s final days in office, the Deputy National Chairman (North), Amb. Illiya Damagum of Yobe State in the northeast, was appointed national chairman. 

He has been in that role since March 28, 2023. There has been growing pressure on the Damagum-led National Working Committee, NWC, to call a NEC meeting to, among other things, “receive the nomination from the north central and approve a substantive national chairman from the zone.”