Like Governor Nyesom Wike, his political ally in the South-South geopolitical zone, the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has asked for the resignation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) NationalChairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.
Ayu is away on a 14-nation European tour.
At a meeting of the South-West stakeholders of PDP in Ibadan, Makinde said: “Our party wants to rescue Nigeria and our candidate is a unifier. He wants to restructure Nigeria.
“Eight years of the All Progressives Congress have left us sharply divided. The issue is we must practice what we preach. If we want to unify Nigeria, we must unify the PDP first.
“If we want to restructure Nigeria, we must have the willingness to bring inclusivity to the PDP. Do we have the capacity? The answer is resounding yes.
“The message from the South-West PDP is that the south-west is asking that the national working committee (NWC) of the PDP should be restructured.
“We are asking the National Chairman to step down so that the south will be fully included. That is the message.”
Makinde’s comments came on the same day he met Ayu’s ally and presidential candidate of the PDP, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, in Ibadan, though details of their discussion were not made public.
Recall that on Tuesday, Ayu had taken a swipe at Makinde’s ally, Nyesom Wike, disclosing that Atiku picked Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate because he is more humble, more educated and has executed more projects than all the other rivals.
And after stoking the fire, Ayu announced that he was travelling out of the country.
At the Northern Christian Youth Assembly Summit in Abuja, Ayu said: “We looked around and we thought we have to give not just a vice president that will assist him (Atiku) but we did our homework to select a man who is highly educated, very humble, and who has done very well as a governor in his home state.
“Okowa is the most qualified running mate. It is on his own personal merit that he was selected by the party as the vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar. I think Nigeria will be very lucky to have two such people who are committed to development who are detribalised who believe in uniting this country.”
Ayu and Wike have been known to use public occasions to throw jabs at each other since Wike lost the race for the running mate to Okowa.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Ayu’s spokesman, Mr. Simon Imobo-Tswam, released a statement of plans by his boss to travel out of the country.
He said: “The PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, will leave Nigeria for Europe tomorrow (Wednesday).
“Ayu will be out of the country for about two weeks.
“While away, the Deputy Chairman (North), Amb. Iliya Damagun, will act in his place.
“Already, the National chairman has communicated the handover to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“He is expected back at month-end.”