Just a few weeks after the Presidential election, Senator Iyorchia Ayu was suspended by his ward in Benue state over anti-party activities. Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike who had been an advocator for the removal of Ayu as National Chairman had claimed earlier on that he had no hand in Ayu’s suspension from the ward level. Dr. Law Mefor, the Spokesperson for the Atiku/Okowa campaign organization in Anambra state has also alleged that Wike played no role in the removal of Ayu by his ward.
He stated that it was easier to remove Ayu because he wasn’t paying his dues to the ward in which he had registered. He contended that as a National Chairman, it’s expected that Ayu should lead by example to the party. He however stated that the structure of political parties has been shifted from the members of the party to the individuals in the party. According to him, this has caused certain individuals to dictate the tune of the party activities.
He said, ”If you want to get political parties to work in Nigeria, start from the political party system formation. Let it be based on the people, funding of the political party must be done by the members of the political parties These should be evidence that you paid your party duties before you can participate in the primaries. As we speak now, political party members don’t pay their due. Ayu’s removal was not influenced by Wike, it was because he wasn’t paying his dues to his ward. He’s the National Chairman of the PDP but he wasn’t paying his dues.
When you belong to a ward and that is where you are registered, you have to pay your dues there. People like Wike will emerge and hijack the platform, they will bring the money. And that is why Wike is saying since after the 2015 Presidential election the PDP lost and everybody abandoned the party, I brought the money that stabilized the party. And somebody emerged from nowhere and took the ticket. That is where the problem started.”
