Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it is not in support of the call made by Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, for removal of the party’s national chairman, Dr Iyorcha Ayu.
Makinde, during the week, as he welcomed the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to Oyo State, demanded that Ayu should resign from his position as national chairman of the party, for a Southerner to take over the seat.
The party chapter, however, extolled Governor Makinde as PDP leader in South-West, but quickly pointed out that there was “no prior meeting where such agreement was reached with the leadership of the party in Lagos State where the such position was agreed.”
Lagos PDP gave this position on Saturday in a release issued by its spokesperson, Hon. Hakeem Amode a copy of which was made available to newsmen, just as it commended the national leadership of the party in their efforts to rescue the country from its current misery, which it said was brought upon the people by the current All Progressives Congress (APC)- led government.
The party chapter, while commending the national leadership, expressed the belief that the PDP had survived as the only political party since the inception of the recent democratic dispensation due to adherence to its constitution, rules of law and regulations guiding its administration
“Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is by this statement distancing itself from the call for the removal of the National Chairman of the Party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu.
“We believe that the Peoples Democratic Party – PDP had survived as the only political party since the inception of the recent democratic dispensation due to its adherence to the constitution of the party, rules of law and regulations guiding the administration of the party.
“As much as we extol His Excellency Engr. Seyi Makinde as our leader in the South-West, but there is no prior meetings where such agreement was reached with the leadership of the party in Lagos State where such position was agreed,” the party said.
“The Lagos State leadership of the party will like to commend the national leadership of our great party PDP in their efforts to rescue the country from its current misery brought upon the people by the current government of APC,” it added.
It pleaded with the leadership of the party in the zone to work together to return PDP “to its glorious days in the administration of the South-West region of the country,” saying that focus should be directed mainly to encouraging the teeming members to rally around party’s “candidates vying for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship positions and ensure that they win elections.”
According to the party chapter, achieving this feat in Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, and Oyo states as demonstrated in Osun State will in no doubt reiterate the importance of South-West in the affairs of PDP and further solidify it “for any position we may take in the affairs of the national administration of our great party in due time.”
Besides, Lagos PDP contended that considering its position as the state in the heart of the coming election, and hosting the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the South-West leadership could not afford a disunited house that would create an opportunity for Tinubu’s victory, come 2023 General Elections.
It added that a divided national leadership also was equally unhelpful to PDP’s noble cause of liberating the people of Lagos State, appealing “to individuals who view the removal of the National Chairman as a way to resolve the lingering internal crisis rocking the party to have a rethink, respect for the constitution of the party and see the need to form a solidly viable alliance that can guarantee our party victory in the next general elections.”
