PDP Leader, Utaan advocates zoning National Chairmanship to Benue North West

A Peoples Democratic Party Chieftain, Conrad Terhide Utaan, has backed calls for the zoning of the National Chairmanship position of the party to the North-Central, saying it was the right thing to do since the ousted National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was from the zone.

He noted that his position on the matter is in line with the provisions of the constitution of the party to the effect that a replacement for an ousted official be made from his area.

Utaan who is also a National Chairmanship aspirant, during a press briefing in Abuja, said the rationale for ceding the position to the North-Central should also be applied to the Benue situation and handed to the Benue North-West (Zone ‘B’) Senatorial District where Dr Ayu hails from.

He, however, noted that the decision is the National Executive Council, NEC of the party to make and would be binding on all party men.

He said, ”It will be a gross negation of the principle supporting the ceding of the position to North-Central should anyone outside of Zone B takes the position. It will be a miscarriage of justice which will be unacceptable to us, the people of that zone.

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”But if NEC in its wisdom interprets the laws of the party to the effect that the current Acting National Chairman, Umar Iliya Damagun, should continue with the good work he and other members of the National Working Committee, NWC are doing, I will accept the decision in good faith and continue to give maximum support to the party a loyal faithful”.

Reacting to allegations of unseating Iyorcha Ayu, Utaan maintained that it was a court ruling which interpreted that the Ward Executives had the constitutional powers to suspend Dr Ayu’s membership, which led to his ousting from the position.

”I went to court to seek legal interpretation of the crisis which resulted following the suspension of Dr Ayu from his membership of the party by his native Igyorov Ward Executives of the party. But there was the counter-argument that the Ward Executives had suspended his membership of the party and not his position as National Chairman.

”I sought the intervention of the court to clear the confusion and it was the court which in its wisdom held that the Ward Executives had the constitutional powers to suspend Dr Ayu’s membership for the reasons they gave. And that having lost his membership of the party, he could not validly hold the position of National Chairman”.