Happening Now: Protesters storm PDP secretariat, ask Ayu to resign

Happening Now: Protesters storm PDP secretariat, ask Ayu to resign

Disturbed by the ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party over its 2023 governorship ticket in Delta state, young members of the party, on Wednesday, stormed the National Secretariat of the PDP to demand the resignation of its National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

The party supporters, acting under the aegis of Concerned Deltans for Good Governance, were at the Wadata Plaza, to register their displeasure over what they described as the refusal of the party chairman to obey an order of the Federal High Court which sacked Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori as the PDP standard bearer in next year’s governorship election in Delta.

Recall that the court order which was delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo declared Olorogun David Edevbie as the lawfully nominated and authentic candidate of the party.

It also directed the PDP to forward Edevbie’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in addition to ordering INEC to accord him the full rights and privileges due to him as the rightful candidate of the party.

However, most of the protesters who trooped out en masse to demand the party’s compliance with the Justice Taiwo’s ruling carried placards with inscriptions, such as “Ayu lacks integrity to push PDP to victory”, “Obey the Abuja FHC judgement”, “BoT help Delta PDP before NWC kills the party” among others.

Addressing reporters during the protest, the leader of the group, Chris Anthony, accused Ayu of leading the party towards destruction.

He said, “There’s a burning issue in Delta state, and it’s about who is the rightful candidate of the PDP in the state.

“Everyone knows that the PDP in Delta is the majority party, but with the action of the National Chairman of the party, we are beginning to be convinced that Ayu is a mole in the party to trade the fortunes of the party to the opposition.

“We have seen Ayu not just as a mole, but also as an actor playing the script written by the opposition to actualise the emergence of an APC governor in Delta state.

“Ayu lacks the capacity to lead the PDP and so should honourably resign, because he has demonstrated gross incompetence in handling the affairs of the party. He should resign. Ayu should resign, because he cannot manage the affairs of the party well.

“We are talking about defending the democracy that thrives on the rule of law, but Ayu has willfully refused to obey a simple court judgment.”