*Protesters not Katsina PDP members, says party
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Coalition of the Northern Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth Movement, yesterday, protested at the Katsina City Gate, demanding the immediate resignation of National Chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
But the State chapter of the PDP has distanced itself from the protest, saying the protesters were not Katsina PDP members and the party would not support anything unconstitutional.
The irate youths bore placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Ayu Must Resign’, ‘PDP Is Not a Private Company’, ‘Fulfil Your Promise’, Northern Youths: We are for justice and fairness’, insisting Ayu must be removed from office before 2023 polls.
Leader of the Coalition, Shehu Isa-Dan’Inna, who addressed journalists during the protest, said the PDP national chairman should resign and stop parading himself as the party’s chairman to avert the current crisis rocking the party.
He said Ayu should fulfil the promise he made that he would resign immediately after the party’s primary if a northerner emerged as the party’s presidential standard bearer.
He said: “We are calling on the national chairman to fulfil his promise. Ayu said immediately after the convention, when a northern Nigerian emerged as the PDP flag bearer he was going to step down.
“But for almost six months now, Ayu did not vacate the secretariat, that is why we are calling on Mr. Ayu, as a gentleman and responsible person to step down and stop calling himself as the PDP national chairman.
“PDP is not a Northern Peoples Democratic Party or Southern Peoples Democratic Party, we have to be just and united, to enable us to win at various levels in the coming 2023 general elections.”
According to him, for the PDP to win the presidential election in 2023, the party’s national chairman must resign from his position as he had promised to, and called on the PDP Board of Trustees, National Working Committee and the PDP caucus to do the needful, by being just and fair in order to get the party to victory in 2023.
However, distancing itself from the protest, chairman of Katsina PDP, Hon. Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, told journalists that the PDP national chairman could not be removed without recourse to the constitutional provisions of the party.
He said the PDP leadership in the state was solidly behind the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Ayu.
“They are not PDP members. We don’t know them. May be they are sent from somewhere to come and bring issue that are not for Katsina State. They are not here at the PDP headquarters, they are not at the local government level,” he said.
