In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when it rains, cats and dogs fall from the sky. A Benue State High Court, sitting in the state capital, Makurdi, has restrained the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, from parading himself as chairman of the party pending the determination of a substantive suit before it.
Terhide Utaan, a member of the main opposition party in the country, got the court to issue the order.
The order was issued by Justice W. I Kpochi, who also adjourned the case to April 17, 2023 for hearing.
The plaintiff, Utaan, after obtaining the order told journalists that if Ayu has been suspended by the Igyorov ward of the party he belongs to, it is inappropriate for him to continue as national chairman and further disunite the party.
Recall that as a result of the ongoing internal battle in the PDP, a few executive members of his ward in Igyorov in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State suspended him. He lashed back that his ward executive committee had no such powers, and that he could only be suspended by the National Executive Committee (NEC), pointing accusing fingers at certain unnamed elements in Makurdi, the state capital, as been behind the suspension.
A week ago, the state governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, who operates out of Makurdi, was ordered by the National Working Committee (NWC) to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee, for what see as his recent anti-party activities.
Ortom is a member of a rebellious group of five governors, (G5) also called the Integrity Group, headed by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, that has been fighting an internal battle against Ayu and party’s presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
In addition to the directive to Ortom to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee, many others, including former governors Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, were suspended from the party.