South West Must Get Things Right-PDP Chairmanship

The Ekiti/Ondo Atiku Movement, a grassroots mobilization group, has condemned Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Dr Iyochia Ayu, to resign, saying the position was not supported by facts or reason.

Dr Ade Ajepe, the group’s Publicity Secretary, said the governor only expressed his personal opinion and added, “There was nowhere South West PDP members debated and jointly took a decision to revolt on the national executive committee, which passed a vote of confidence in the party’s national working committee.”

Ajepe responded to the Oyo State governor’s statement that “we are asking the Chairman to step down so that the South will be fully included” in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Saturday titled, “We say no to Gov. Makinde’s calls for removal of PDP chairman.”

Rising from a meeting on Friday, the movement’s leadership stated that “South-West is interested in the chairmanship of the party, but not through backstabbing, dagger drawn, or back door as being championed by Governor Makinde and his co-travellers, who are obviously mainly outside the South-West Zone.”

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“When the chairmanship was zoned to the South-West, those masquerading as the region’s defenders now collaborated and colluded with a South-South governor to hijack the position to Rivers State,” the group claimed.

It urged Ayu, however, to “ignore the distractions and continue to do good work as attested to by the party NEC, as well as reach out to all party men and women across the country and unite all for the task ahead.”

According to Ajepe, the group has also thrown their weight behind the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and praised Ayu for his “unwavering support, loyalty, and commitment to the party’s constitution.”

“As a party, we must adhere to constitutionalism, rules and regulations, party convention, practices, and principles in all matters, including this one,” the group stated.

Ajepe, who stated that the group expects the PDP to win a landslide victory in the general elections next year, urged all members in the South-West to “come together to mobilize support for our candidate and ensure his victory in the February 2023 presidential election.”