The North Central PDP Rebirth Forum (NCPDPRF) has vehemently opposed the candidature of former President of the Senate, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Convener of the group, Engr. Mohammed Idah, at a press conference in Abuja, Thursday, claimed the choice of Ayu was in tandem with a clandestine plan by some politicians in the PDP to deny the North Central, the presidency in 2023.
The group called on stakeholders of the party to lobby other zones to support the North Central to produce the next president since the PDP has decided to leave the presidential ticket open for all zones to compete for the exalted seat.
Justifying the position, the group argued thus: “The North Central has produced several PDP National Chairmen. For the avoidance of doubts, the pioneer PDP chairman was Chief Solomon Lar from Plateau State, Engr. Barnabas Gemade and Chief Audu Ogbe were all PDP chairmen from Benue State.
“Ahamdu Ali from Kogi state, Alhaji Kawu Baraje from kwara state also became chairman of our party without any benefit to the North Central. We totally reject the move to stop the North Central from aspiring for the Presidency in 2023 using any guise. Not even the position of the National Chairman of PDP.”
The group further contended that the PDP needs a national chairman of the party who is without stain and will not have distractions to lead the party to victory.
The Forum is of the opinion that “the PDP needs a national chairman of the party who is without stain and will not have distractions to lead our party to victory.
In making any member national chairman of the party according to NCPDPRF, care must be taken to avoid jeopardising the chances of the party before Nigerians and the International community, saying: “We recall that the opposition in 2015 used corruption and the inability of President Jonathan to tackle the menace of Boko Haram to campaign against our party.”
“From the foregoing, we reject the candidature of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and the decision to zone the PDP National Chairman to the North Central Zone.”
The group therefore called on Nigerians to support the North Central to produce the president come 2023.
