Ifedayo Adedipe, Ondo Central Senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has admonished the national chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, to relinquish his position in the interest of the party.

Mr Adedipe, who made the call while speaking with journalists on Sunday in Akure, said the crisis rocking the party was not a personal matter between Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He pointed out that “it is better to make the supreme sacrifice so that the crisis will not damage the party.”

“If Ayu can willingly relinquish his position in the interest of the party, he will automatically become a hero just as Aminu Tambuwal was termed a hero during the night of the party’s convention,” the senatorial candidate said.

Mr Wike and four other governors have been calling for Mr Ayu’s resignation as the national chairman to pave the way for inclusiveness in the party’s administration.

The PDP senatorial candidate said it had become imperative for the national chairman to make sacrifices by yielding to the call for inclusiveness and carrying them on board.

According to him, what the governors are asking for is that the presidential candidate and the party’s national chairman should not come from the same region.

Mr Adedipe, who said he had sympathy for Mr Wike for being the rock and pillar of the party between 2015 and now, regretted that the PDP “is still talking of unifying the party at this crucial time instead of talking of how to win election”.

He said If the chairman wants to help his party, he should be ready to make sacrifices and look at what the party stands to lose if these governors are not on board.

“The crisis is not personal, the aggrieved governors are looking for inclusiveness, and don’t anybody deceive you that they can do nothing.

“It will be counterproductive and unhealthy for them to leave because we can not afford another eight years of APC under any guise.

“Ironically, the PDP has more governors in the south than in the north. So, if I were the chairman, I would not wait till after winning the election before I resign in the interest of the party.

“Ayu should become a hero by leaving now,” he said.

The senatorial candidate, therefore, called on the electorates to resolve and vote for PDP in the senatorial, presidential and other elective positions in the forthcoming general election.

(NAN)