A former president of the Senate, Pius Anyim, has reacted to his suspension from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the PDP’s National Labor Committee (NWC) on Thursday suspended Mr. Anyim along with former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose and two other party members.
The others also suspended were Dennis Ityavya from Benue State and Aslam Aliyu from Zamfara State.
Like other members who were also suspended, the PDP did not declare Mr. Anyim’s crimes. But party sources had said the former federation government secretary and others were suspended for alleged anti-party activities.
The PDP had also asked Governor Samuel Ortom to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee on a similar charge.
Anyim, a former PDP presidential hopeful, endorsed Ebonyi State All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate Francis Nwifuru in the March 18 election against PDP candidate Ifeanyi Odii.
Nwifuru won the election to become governor-elect of the state.
But in a statement on Friday, Anyim said the NWC’s suspension of the PDP was “disappointing to say the least.”
He stressed that the party should have been concerned with how to conduct a “comprehensive self-examination of why they performed so poorly in the 2023 election rather than seeking to further divide the party by shifting blame.”
“It smacks of arrogance for the NWC to put on a bold face instead of showing remorse and sobering up for leading the party to such a colossal loss in the 2023 election, thus dashing the hopes and expectations of party members, and indeed, of Nigerians,” he said. fixed.
“It is clear that, in the wake of the NWC’s leadership style, many members intentionally and proudly worked against the party, including NWC members. Therefore, it is a show of innate cowardice for the NWC to choose soft targets to suspend and fear those who demonize them on a daily basis,” Anyim added.
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The former Senate president said it’s hard to explain why the NWC was “rushing to suspend party leaders without recourse to a fair hearing, without which their action is null and void.”
Support for candidate Ebonyi APC
Mr. Anyim defended his support for the Ebonyi State APC’s gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Nwifuru, explaining that his decision was due to the “existing form” in the state.
He accused the PDP of “imposing” its gubernatorial candidate on the state from outside the zone favored by the existing zoning form in order to produce a governor in the state.
“All efforts to make the NWC come to their senses fell on deaf ears. On the day the party’s presidential rally was held in Ebonyi State, I told Dr. (Iyorchia) Ayu (PPD National Chairman) that I was boycotting the rally because I could not support the candidate they imposed in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi.
“Dr. Ayu didn’t do anything. He didn’t care, even though I didn’t attend the Ebonyi rally. The NWC may want to know that I’m proud to have supported the APC gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State to win the elections because that fits the fair formula in Ebonyi State,” he said.
Anyim said, given his explanation, that he hopes the PDP’s NWC will “back down” in the interest of the party.
