Fayose, Ortom take on PDP over suspension
Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State, Pius Anyim, a former president of the Senate, Professor Dennis Ityavyar, and Aslam Aliyu were all suspended by the Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday.
According to the PDP Constitution’s provisions, the party said the suspension became effective on Thursday and that it was decided after a thorough review of the party’s operations (as amended in 2017).
In addition, the PDP reported suspected anti-party acts by the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, to the National Disciplinary Committee.
A statement from the national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, detailing this, was released.
“The PDP urges all leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of our party across the country to remain united and focused at this critical time,” the statement added.
Through his media assistant Lere Olayinka, Fayose responded by calling the suspension by the National Working Committee, which is led by Senator Iyorchia Ayu, “the last kick of a dead horse.”
The former governor claimed in a statement headed “My suspension is Ayu’s last kick of a dead horse – Fayose” that Ayu and his associates were merely using the supposed suspension as their newest comic routine to amuse themselves.
The PDP would be saved and given new life in due course, according to Fayose and those who stuck by the party when Atiku and his cronies let it to perish. He further added, “The supposed suspension will have no leg to stand.”
Following the defeat of the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar in the presidential election on February 25, Fayose had earlier this month lambasted his party and Ayu in an interview with Arise TV.
He further said, “This Ayu was the one who led Atiku to the gutters. They took him to the gutters. You see when a man cannot come out. At 80, what does he want to do after that?”
Fayose commented on a video that showed members of a civil society organization in Abuja protesting the election results, saying, “Let me first fault the people I saw here today that are calling themselves civil society. They are PDP members, he partially remarked.
In response, Ortom claimed that by reporting him to the PDP’s disciplinary committee for alleged anti-party conduct, the national working committee was violating an ongoing court order.
Additionally, Governor Ortom claimed that the party’s leadership had shown contempt by disobeying the court order that forbade the party or any organ of the party from taking any disciplinary action against him.
His chief press secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, said this in a statement on Thursday.
“I think the national leadership of our great party is losing its sense of direction. Instead of the leadership to sit back and think of ways of how to rebuild the party from the ruins of the defeat from the just concluded elections, they are going about chasing imaginary shadows.
“In any case, the first person the party should refer to the disciplinary committee should be the national chairman of the party, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. The national chairman lost his polling unit, lost his ward, local government, and even the state,” Ikyur said.
