Some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the North Central geo-political zone, have endorsed a former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam for the position of national chairman of the party.
The leaders on the aegis of ‘Platform of North Central PDP Stakeholders Forum’ announced the endorsement of Suswam on Monday night at the end of their meeting, which took place at Ibeto Grand Hotel, Abuja.
Suswam, however, did not attend the meeting.
The meeting attended by prominent political leaders and stakeholders, including former and serving members of the State and National Assembly, former ministers, appointees and party leaders, women, youths, and observers from the zone, expressed the desire for the need for the party to allow the zone complete the tenure of the suspended National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.
The position of the North Central stakeholders was confirmed by a former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, when he featured on Arise Television programme.
He said the zone wanted to complete its tenure following the suspension of Ayu, adding also that the PDP did not have to wait for court litigation, stressing, too, that based on available information at his disposal, he did not think that Ayu was in court.
“I do not think the meeting on Thursday is going to be about ‘are we electing a leader or are we discussing leadership’? What the meeting is about, from what I am picking among leaders and among members, is would Damagun remain in office or will he be replaced?
“There are those who have come up with the argument that the vacancy does not exist in the office of the chairmanship, and they argue that Damagun is there because the constitution provides that where the chairman ceases to exist, either by resignation, by death and by all the conditions put forward by the constitution, the deputy national chairman from that zone, that is from the north-south dichotomy would be the one to stand in office pending when a substantive chairman is brought forward.
“So, the north central is saying we want to bring forward a replacement, which would be the substantive chairman. I think that is the major issue that the party will have to contend with on Thursday,” he stated.
Speaking at the meeting, the former senator representing Benue North West, Senator Emmanuel Yisa Orker-Jev, said, in line with the constitution of the party, it was only suitable to return the position of the National Chairman to Benue State.
Orker-Jev noted that the chairmanship position currently subsists in Benue after what he described as “the unfortunate suspension” of Ayu about a year ago.
Similarly, a former minister from Plateau State, Chief Damishi Sango, said the time had come for the genuine PDP members to correct past mistakes by throwing their weight behind Suswam.
Other stakeholders that spoke along the same lines as the six states and the FCT that make up the North Central zone unanimously said that endorsing Suswam was a wise decision.
