The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, to assure members that he would resign his position after the 2023 general elections.
The BoT acting Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, disclosed this in a communiqué after the board’s reconciliation committee submitted its report to the BOT members on Friday in Abuja.
Wabara, who read the communique, called on the Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to review his appointments of members of the Campaign Council and other advisory appointments to make it all inclusive.
The board also called on all PDP leaders and persons close to them, to desist from making further inflammatory remarks or granting press interviews on the crisis rocking the party.
“We resolved: to call on the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum to convene a meeting of the forum without further delay.
“To call on all the leaders of the party to match words with action and where commitments are made to unconditionally fulfill same.
“To urge the National Chairman as an eminent leader to give a firm assurance that he would resign his position after the 2023 elections.
“In the same vein, the BoT Chairman has been authorised to offer apologies on behalf of all members who feel maligned or aggrieved by the public statements made by its members across the country that have sharpen the current division in the party.”
Wabara said that the board would refer some of those recommendations to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for notice and appropriate action.
Earlier in his remarks at the board meeting, the former president of the Senate said the 2023 election was for PDP to win or lose if the party members were not united.
“So, the aim of this special committee primarily was to find a way of bringing everybody under this our big umbrella.
“No vote is too small. As a matter of fact, all votes are equal. But then when you start counting, that is what brings you victory,” Wabara said.
According to him, what the party needs to get to the villa is sacrifices.
“If we do not get to the villa, we will be disappointing ourselves as a party, we will also be disappointing Nigerians.”
Wabara said after setting up the committee, members swinged into action to reconcile issues.
“We operated on the principle of give and take, sacrifice.
“We know that a lot of egos have been hurt on both sides but we should do all in our powers to ensure that we sheath our swords and then aim at the main thing,” Wabara said.
In his remarks, Ayu said that PDP had only one desire which was to return to power in 2023.
“We have one singular goal in this party and that goal is to win the forthcoming elections, particularly the presidential election.
“The NWC of which I am the chairman, is very desirous of having a united party,” Ayu said.
He said that in spite of the perceived crisis in the PDP, the NWC had worked behind the scene to bring about peace and reconciliation in the party.
He expressed hope that the report would help to unite the party or move it towards a strong position to win the elections.
Fielding questions from newsmen, Ayu said that he attended the meeting because he was a BoT member.
Ayu, who advised that his family be left out of the party crisis, denied collecting one billion naira from anybody.
“When we came in and the party had funding difficulties the presidential candidate suggested that we should take a loan from the bank and the owner of that bank is a member of the party, he has even left the party.
“The party never took any loan from anybody. Any money advanced to the party was declared before the NWC and handed over to the National Treasurer.
“All our accounts are up to date and we promised to publish the accounts at the end of the year,” Ayu assured.
He said that the NWC only received N100m from one of the governors to revive the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) which was housed in a porta cabin at the party national headquarters.
He said that with the money the party’s NWC hired an appropriate place in Asokoro, renovated and furnished it, which was inspected with the said governors few days ago.
“I am happy that the National Secretary of the party has since written a letter to that governor.
“I or the NWC never took any money to carry out that renovation in fact we have not even exhausted that N100 million by one of the governors.
“I have refrained from reacting to the consistent attack on my person since the end of the convention on May 31. As a father of the party I felt I should encourage reconciliation.
“But where it touches on my personal integrity or even my family members are brought into play I appealed to such people to desist from trying to malign my character or bringing my family into party affairs,” Ayu said.
