‘President without party discipline will gravitate towards dictatorship’

By TUNDE JOSHUA

• Ayu cautions Wike, 16 others to avoid attacking one another

Dictatorship, Senator Iyorchia Ayu has emphasized the importance of party supremacy and discipline in internal processes. The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said its policies and guidelines are meant to be totally obeyed by elected and non-elected members.

The national chairman noted that an elected president on a political grouping’s platform who in turn fails to imbibe party discipline will gravitate towards dictatorship.

Ayu gave this charge while he led other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to a meeting with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Wike was at the Wadata Plaza national headquarters of the party to inform its leadership of his intention to contest the PDP presidential ticket for the 2023 election.

The national chairman urged Wike and 16 other aspirants to be guided by the democratic principles of the party by placing party interest above self interest in their quest to win PDP ticket. Ayu though said all the 16 men and one woman in the race are eminently qualified for the ticket, one of them will surely emerge in a transparent primary to be conducted by party leadership.

He warned that after the emergence of PDP flag bearer on May 29, the rest of the aspirants should give total support as loyal party men to the winner to ensure that PDP win in 2023. He as well assured if total commitment of the leadership of aggressive campaign and mobilization for vote for PDP’s victory.

The chairman said “but I want to also assure you, that once you emerge, as the candidate of the party, whoever emerges from that point on, we will be aggressively partisan, because you want the party to win the election. “We will do everything in our power by way of canvasing for votes from Nigerian people to ensure that the PDP wins the next election because a victory by PDP candidate is a victory for everybody.

“We have a strong and credible NWC which is working very relentlessly to make sure that we’ll have a strong political party that will win and Nigerians will be proud of our performance.

“If and when you win the ticket and win the presidency. I want to assure you that the party will stand firmly behind in all policy discussions and all policy implementation because you are right.

“If you don’t have a strong political party, it is very easy for the President to gravitate to dictatorship and this party was built on the foundation of democracy. “And it in that light that I particularly like your submission when you you made it clear, that win or lose, you will never leave the party. You will work for the party.

You’ve done it before and we are very sure that you will do it again. Ayu also warned against in- fighting among aspirants, saying “we’ve never attacked an individual and that is what we want from all our presidential aspirants that they should stick to issues. They should not attack themselves.

“By attacking each other you undermine the party, because if you give to opposition the nursery ammunition to attack us when the candidate emerged secondly, when you attack yourselves, you’re undermining your candidate also, because if you emerge as the candidate of the party, you needs every aspirant and every member of the party to canvass for you in many parts of the country, you alone cannot win elections. You need every member of the party to work for the party.

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“I want every member of the party who is running for election from the lowest level to the highest level, particularly presidential aspirants to stick to the issues, to decampaign the opposition, to promote the party, make sure that we stick together because only a united PDP will go into this election and win the election. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that we are going to win the next presidential election, The Trumpet gathered.

“We can only do so, by uniting our party chapters in the ward, in the local government and in the states. “Any action we take should never we should never lose sight of the fact that our ultimate goal is not the ticket of the PDP. Our ultimate goal is to win the presidential election. Self resilience is very, very important even where we are provoked or agitated. He appreciated Wike for his support for the party.