The Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) national chairman, Chief Iyorchia Ayu, is anticipated to return to Nigeria today, Friday, despite serious corruption allegations around his position.
That may not be true of his return journey, though, as his PDP colleagues on the National Working Committee, NWC, are expected to make bombshell revelations. This is in contrast to when he left the country for Europe with fanfare.
Ayu was accused of indulging in corrupt acts just one week prior by Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, in what appears to be blowing the lead.
Wike's long-running feud with the party chairman stems from the party's presidential primary contest, which Wike lost to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. As a result, few people took Wike's accusations seriously.
Wike claimed that Ayu received N1 billion from one of the party's presidential candidates in response to queries from journalists.
He continued by claiming that Ayu is dishonest and that the chairman cannot deny receiving the money but refusing to transfer it to the party's account.
Ayu is incredibly corrupt. I am completely informed. Ayu has the chance to confront me; I'll say who it is.
"Some governors may be able to inform you. Will he refute the assertion that he failed to recoup N1 billion from Lagos? Let him protest, and I'll tell him that the money didn't come from the Lagos State government; it was handed to him in Lagos.
He said to a presidential contender he met that he wasn't convinced the governors would want to sponsor the party.
Although that money did not enter the PDP's account, we are not criticizing Ayu for it.
Wike fired a powerful cannonball, but since Ayu was abroad, there was no response.
As Nigerians waited for Ayu to respond to the serious accusations, at least four members of the Ayu-led NWC rejected strange funds that had been deposited into their accounts on Thursday.
With each recipient leaving a letter for Ayu, the money—a total of over N122 million—has already been transferred back to the PDP account.
The National Vice Chairman (South-West), Olasoji Adagunodo, the Deputy National Chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja, the National Vice Chairman (South), Chief Dan Orbih, and the National Women Leader, Prof. Stella Affah-Attoe, were among those who returned the funds.
Arapaja received N36 million, Adagunodo, Orbih, and Effah-Attoe each received N28.8 million, according to specifics in their letters.
In the letter he sent to Ayu, Orbih said, "My attention has been called to a negative trending story reported by Yusuf Alli on September 26, 2022 in THE NATION Newspaper under the headline "Disquiet in PDP NW over N10 billion nomination fees." He made a number of other accusations, including that NWC members were offered N28 million to cover up egregious financial misconduct.
"Much to my amazement and dismay, my bank has certified that the amount of N28, 800,000 (twenty eight million eight hundred thousand Naira) has been credited to my account by the party. I hereby give you notice that I have chosen to return the funds to the party's account.
Please confirm receipt of the following checks from the Zenith Bank Manager: N10,000,000, N10,000,000, N8,800,000. Total: N28,800,000. Globus Bank PLC, Account Number 1000095003
According to DAILY POST, additional NWC members sent Ayu letters expressing their disagreement with the dubious fund in a similar fashion.
When one of them was questioned, Effah-Attoe claimed she was informed the funds were intended for her two-year rent.
However, she claimed that phone calls from party members, friends, family, and the general public suggested that the money was a bribe intended "to bring me and other NWC members on the side of The National Chairman, following the crisis between him on the one side and the Governor of Rivers State, H.E. Governor Nyesom Wike/Group Wike's on the other side"
According to reports, the development has unnerved the PDP hierarchy at the top, including Atiku Abubakar's campaign, who views the unfolding events as unfavorable for the party given the start of the election season.
"Recall that massive government corruption was one of the reasons the party was defeated in the 2015 election; this is now taking place.
"There is unease everywhere, and the general consensus is that Wike was correct.
"This is happening at a very horrible moment because the party would find it impossible to go and talk to the electorates on anti-corruption when its home is tarnished with multiple unsolved fraud allegations.
"To be honest, the majority of the party officials are shocked by this development, and the national chairman should quit right once. Now, Wike is not the focus of this. Ayu need to simply concede if he truly has the best interests of the gathering in mind.
The top party source stated, "There is no way he can lead the party into a general election with this kind of baggage; it will be difficult to repair this mess before the election."
There has been utter quiet from the PDP leadership regarding these charges as of the time this story was filed.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of the Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, a civil rights activist, claimed that the PDP's recent events were proof that the party had not evolved from its previous practices.
In an interview, Onwubiko stated that Ayu should quit and turn himself in to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, in order to do what was right.
"The corruption discovered in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as disclosed by some notable leaders and members of the party's National Executive Committee who refunded humongous bribes paid into their accounts allegedly by Iyorchia Ayu shows that it is difficult for a Leopard to change its color," he asserted.
"The PDP and the APC are twin evils because there is no accountability or transparency in either party's leadership, and this is because the party chairs of these two organizations rose to power using corrupt methods.
The PDP Chairman should do his party a favor and step down in order to turn himself over to the EFCC for an investigation and perhaps prosecution.
It's a real shame that the PDP, which needs to work hard to persuade people of its will to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari's completely corrupt and power-crazed administration, is itself undermined by greed, avarice, and corruption.
The possibility for Nigerian voters to be determined to remove both the PDP and the APC is significant.
