Where has Iorchia Ayu gone wrong?

There is no doubt that the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Dr Iorchia Ayu is currently waddling on a precipice. And his sin might not be too far from the emergence of his good friend, Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the leading opposition party.

But what was his crime that some political gladiators in the People’s Democratic Party especially those in the camp of Governor Wike would want to have their “pounds of flesh” by calling for his head?

To start with, DR Ayu soon after ascending the throne of the National Chairman of the party set in motion a mechanism aimed at determining where the party’s presidential nominee should sprout from. He did this via a committee which recommended the participation of all interested hopefuls irrespective of their regions of origin. This recommendation was ratified by the National Executive Committee of the party. It was not Ayu’s unilateral decision. It was the verdict of all.

I am aware that the National Chairman was neither a voter in the said primary nor that he chose those that voted. Delegates voted according to their convictions and the size of the aspirant’s pockets.

Though I was not at the venue of the convention, the primary was adjudged by all and sundry as peaceful, transparent and plausible.

If that is the case, why is the fury against Dr Ayu? Why do they want Ayu to leave? Were they in a treaty to manipulate the process in Wike’s favour and he betrayed them? If that is the case, let them come out in the open and tell Nigerians for Nigerians are interested in the behind-the-scenes episode.

For me, I am nervous that tantrums are being mounded on Dr Ayu without eyebrows from the people of Benue State. This is not good. We should not allow it to prevail.

This is about the third time that something like this is happening to us. I reminisce how Chief Barnabas Gemade was axed as the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party. I painfully recollected how Chief Audu Ogbe was ignominiously exited from the same office.

Now, the same fate is about to befall Dr Iorchia Ayu. If allowed, it will become the trademark of the Benue people. It means, we can not manage people. And Nigeria will write us off. The future of our children will be jeopardised.

Therefore it is my candid opinion that we should all rise in defence of the Gboko-born politician in conformity with the Idoma verbiage, “let’s first of all chase the wild cat deep into the thick forest before coming home to ask the hen of what happened”.

Leaving Ayu in the lurch will no doubt portray us as a people who have deposited no love for our own. He is our son. He is our brother. He needs our love, protection and support at this juncture. Doing so will amount to an exercise in self-preservation anchored in self-esteem. We owe ourselves that self-love, that self-dignity and that oneness. We should not flick over it.

Elijah, the living ancestor (Adalekwu) writes from O’eje fortress, Otada – Otukpo.