By Chinelo Obogo
The presidential candidate of People Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, said he has moved on from the crisis that had rocked the party since his emergence.
In an interview with Voice of America (VOA) Hausa, during his US visit, Atiku said the calls by five PDP governors for the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Iyorcha Ayu, which has led crisis is not tenable, insisting that leadership change is currently impossible in the party.
“We are yet to resolve the matter. But we have moved on, I don’t have any worries about that anymore. At this juncture it’s improper to talk about leadership change in the party while elections are fast approaching,” Atiku said.
Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, had insisted that Ayu must resign following Atiku’s emergence as the party’s candidate.
They insisted that the party’s national chairman and presidential candidate can’t both come from the north.
The governors, who withdrew from the campaign team of Atiku, gave the removal Ayu as condition for peace to reign in the party.
Ayu and Atiku have both repeatedly said there would be no leadership change, while the five governors have said there would be no mobilisation in their various states for Atiku without Ayu’s resignation.
During the VOA interview, Atiku reiterated his commitment to tackling the security challenges bewildering the country.
“We would confront this issue by convoking a constitutional review so that states and local governments, to whom we intend to give the imprimatur to run their security affairs, would be able to do so. But this requires a rejig of constitution. Before we embark on this, we intend to employ more boots on ground, especially in the area of policing and civil defence, all of which we want to equip properly,” he said.
The former vice president added that his administration would work closely with the judiciary to ensure speedy trial of offenders, saying he would support the imposition of death penalty for terrorism-related offences.