The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyorchia Ayu has handed over power to one of his deputies ahead of his trip abroad.
Ayu formally handed over power to Amb. Iliya Damagun, the Deputy National Chairman (North) in readiness for his trip. According to Daily Post, he made this known via a statement by his Special Adviser Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, after confirming that he is set to embark on a medical trip to Europe on Wednesday.
PDP has two Deputy National Chairmen: one from the South while the other is from the North. While Damagun is Ayu’s Deputy from the North, the Deputy from the South is Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State.
It would be noted that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his camp are alleging power imbalance in PDP. According to Wike’s camp, people from the North occupy the posts of the presidential candidate, National Chairman and also the Chairman PDP Governors Forum while the South does not have high-ranking PDP leaders which makes it unfair to the South.
Amid the crisis thrown up by the fallout of the PDP presidential primary after Alhaji Atiku Abubakar picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate, Wike’s camp then started pushing for the resignation of Ayu and the need to balance of power in PDP national leadership in order not to make it look like a regional party.
It is not clear how Wike and his camp would react to the decision of Ayu to hand over power to the PDP Deputy Nation Chairman from the North to act in his absence. While Wike and his camp complain of the power imbalance in the party, this development has made it clear that in Ayu’s absence, another person from the North would be in charge.