October 13, (THEWILL) – A former senate president, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has been chosen as the North Central geopolitical zone’s preferred candidate in the race for who becomes national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Samuel Ortom announced the decision of PDP leaders from the zone on Tuesday night, saying they gave Ayu the nod at a meeting convened at the Benue State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
He said Ayu’s candidacy would be sold to the entire Northern structure of the party on Wednesday (today).
Ayu was the Senate President in the defunct third republic, but had his tenure truncated following his involvement in the struggle against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
Present at the meeting were notable PDP chieftains from states forming the North-Central Zone, including: Former Senate Presidents David Mark and Bukola Saraki, a former Information Minister, Professor Jerry Gana, former Kogi State Governor Ibrahim Idris and the party’s Board of Trustees chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin.
Ortom, who spoke to journalists at the end of the meeting, informed them that the leaders from the six states in the North Central chose Ayu over the other four party chieftains from the zone who had declared interests in heading the party.
Senator David Mark, former Governor Ibrahim Idris, Professor Jerry Gana and Chief Attah Idoko are said to have stepped down for Ayu.
Ortom announced that party leaders from the zone chose Ayu to be their consensus candidate as they believed he had shown massive commitment and capacity to navigate PDP through the current travails towards victory in the 2023 elections.
He said the zone’s choice would be presented to an enlarged meeting of the entire Northern Caucus.
Ortom said: “We met here for several hours. Amongst the five persons that were contesting, the leadership of our party from the North Central unanimously agreed to sponsor former Senate President Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to be the National Chairman of our party from the North Central.
“There was no voting, we all agreed that he is the right person for this job at this time. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the northern stakeholders of our PDP are going to meet. So he will be presented to the Northern Caucus of the party. I think that by the grace of God they will also accept him.”
However, the Benue governor explained that Ayu’s emergence as consensus candidate from the North Central Zone did not hinder other interested aspirants from the North, to which PDP zoned the seat, from contesting the post.
Born in Gboko, Benue state, Ayu was a lecturer of Sociology at the University of Jos, where he served as the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Of the majority Tiv tribe of Benue state, Ayu branched into politics and was elected senator in the third republic through the Social Democratic Party (SDP), on whose ticket he became senate president.
However, his rabid support for June 12 against the Interim National Government (ING) earned him an impeachment that saw him replaced by Senator Ahmed Ebute.
President of the Senate from 1992 to 1993, Senator Ayu also served as the minister of education under the Abacha regime from 1993 to 1998, before serving as the minister of industry under President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2001.
Ayu also served as the minister of internal affairs from July 2003 to June 2005 and the minister of environment from June 2005 to December 2005.
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