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PDP Crisis: Northern Coalition Demands Ayu’s Resignation

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Photo: Protest at PDP secretariat in Kaduna. Source: NAN/PUNCH

The Coalition of the Northern Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party Youth Movement, has demanded the resignation of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

The coalition in a protest at the PDP Secretariat in Kaduna, on Friday, said the national chairman had to keep his promise and resign, following the crisis that the party had faced since former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, clinched the presidential candidate ticket of the party for the 2023 general election.

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Spokesperson of the coalition, Mr. Shehu Isa-Dan’Inna, stated that the PDP was not a northern party, but a party for everyone, either from the north or south.

He said, “The PDP is not a Northern Peoples Democratic Party nor 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. If the PDP’s internal crisis persist, I do not think we will win the presidential election.

“For the PDP to project transparency as it had always done, the North should not hold about three key positions in the party.”

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Isa-Dan’Inna, who noted that some PDP governors and leaders particularly from southern Nigeria were insistent that for fairness, northern Nigeria should not hold both the party’s presidential ticket and national chairmanship position, said the country needed the PDP at the helms of its affairs for overall wellbeing of Nigerians.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Ayu Must Resign, Makinde Demands

He said, “About six governors are fighting one governor. In the south we have about four presidential aspirants cut across different parties which will reduce our votes, and the ruling party as well is strong in the south.

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“Wike is also strong, we don’t want to divide our votes, that is why we are calling on Sen. Iyorchia Ayu to resign.

“It will be better for us to loose Ayu as the PDP Chairman and clinch the president seat, than to leave him and loose the presidency,” he added.

He further urged the PDP Board of Trustees and National Working Committee to be just and fair in order to get the party to victory.

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“If Ayu keeps to his promise, victory will surely be ours and Nigerians will smile again, the party leaders must act to salvage Nigerians, we don’t want to continue suffering,” he said.

NAN

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VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview

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Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.

In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.

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According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.

He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.

READ ALSO: Nigeria No Longer A Democracy, Peter Obi Laments

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“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”

He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.

“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.

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“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.

READ ALSO: Teen Who Stood In Front Of Peter Obi’s Convoy Freed After Months In Kirikiri

“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.

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“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.

The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.

The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.

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Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.

Watch video below:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202

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Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst

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Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.

In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.

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People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.

Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.

READ ALSO: I Don’t Want To Join Issues With Children, Amaechi Hits Back At Wike

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While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.

If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.

Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.

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“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.

READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Gov. Mohammed Advocates Unity, Good Governance

He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.

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Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.

The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.

“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.

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Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.

 

Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.

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Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.

But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.

We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.

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UNN Best Graduate Wins £33,000 Com

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A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s with the overall best graduating CGPA of 4.98, Chizoba Ejiofor, has secured a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship.

Education advocate and tech entrepreneur Alex Onyia, who made this known on social media on Thursday, said he had taken responsibility for supporting Ejiofor after the university failed to award him the promised N50,000 prize for academic excellence.

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I have a good news. A very good news. You remember Chizoba Ejiofor, who graduated as UNN overall best graduating student with CGPA of 4.98, that UNN refused to fulfill the N50k price promised to him?

READ ALSO: Crisis Brews In UNN As Court Restrains Varsity From Conducting Convocation Election

“I took him up as a full responsibility. We started working tirelessly together since last year to secure a fully funded scholarship, and today we have the good news,” Onyia wrote.

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Onyia revealed that Ejiofor was awarded a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship, valued at over £33,000. The package includes tuition, flight tickets, and monthly stipends.

This is fully funded scholarship from Commonwealth. Over 33 thousand pounds in scholarship, flight tickets and monthly stipends inclusive. No one can describe how happy and fulfilled I am today,” he added.

 

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