The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, shelved the proposed meetings of its two key organs; the National Working Committee (NWC), and National Executive Council (NEC), amid alleged plans by some members to remove Iyorchia Ayu, as the party’s national chairman.
Ayu is said to be facing an impeachment threat by some aggrieved members over his alleged faceoff with the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.
Some members of the NWC and BoT on Monday advised that the meetings earlier scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week be postponed to avert a possible removal of Ayu.
A member of the NWC, who does not want his name in print, said “Ayu himself has not helped matters in the brewing crisis.”
BusinessDay gathered that some members of the NWC are angered by reports claiming that the chairman had called for the swapping of positions between North and South in the party’s executives. The meeting is the first since the May 28/29 party presidential primaries.
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The party had been engulfed in a series of crises after its presidential primaries which saw Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president defeat Wike to become the party’s presidential flag bearer.
A BoT member told BusinessDay that “Iyorchia Ayu’s role in this crisis showed from day one, he had been biased against Wike.
“I can tell you that if the NEC holds, Ayu will be history, because tension is still high. So, some of us advised that the meetings be postponed for now.”
Samuel Anyanwu, the party’s national secretary, in a statement announcing the postponement of the meeting, however, revealed that “a new date will be announced in due course, and all inconveniences are deeply regretted”
Anyanwu informed all members of the PDP national caucus and NEC that “the meetings of the two bodies earlier scheduled for Wednesday, August 10 and Thursday, August 11, 2022, respectively, have been postponed.” He said the postponement was due to unforeseen circumstances.
“There is no problem; we have to postpone the meetings because the presidential candidate is not around. This is the first NEC meeting we are holding since our primaries and we need the attendance of all leaders.
According to him, “We had our BoT last week and we thought we could follow it up with national caucus and NEC meetings. But we cannot have these meetings without the presidential candidate and many others. So we have decided to postpone it for about two weeks,” he disclosed.
