2023 Presidency: You’re On Your Own – Ayu Tells Dele Momodu

• Insists power resides with PDP members not leadership 

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, says only party members and not the leadership are in a position to determine its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.

Ayu delivered the hard-truth ‘you are on your own’ message to the Chief Executive Officer and Publisher of Ovation International magazine, Dele Momodu when the popular journalist visited the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja to formally present his letter of interest in vying for the Party’s presidential ticket on Thursday in Abuja.

However, Ayu assured the Ovation Media Group boss that with no preferred presidential candidate on the table, the PDP would be fair in providing a level-playing field for all aspirants to test their popularity among party members.

The PDP National Chairman pointedly told Modmodu; “For you to run for office, you must have a strong platform but the first responsibility I will charge you to do is to work hard and build a strong party which we can go into battle with.

“For your personal ambition like all other candidates, I wish you well, I wish you the best. There will be a level playing ground for all aspirants; we don’t have a special candidate, we don’t have any preferred candidate, the party members will decide who will contest any office.”

“If at the end of the day, party members vote for you that you are the one they want, the party will stand behind you. You have to go out and work out there among the party members across the country because the party leadership will not do it for you. Our job is to try and provide the necessary mechanism” to make everyone happy”, Ayu said.

In officially declaring his interest in cornering the opposition party’s ticket as its presidential flag-bearer for the 2023 general election, Momodu, who donned black ‘Babariga’ with a cap to match, described himself as “the best, most prepared aspirant,” to turn around the fortunes of the country.

He urged the PDP national leadership to shun the temptation of choosing the party’s standard-bearer based on mundane political considerations and sentiments, noting that the year 2023 offers the opposition party an opportunity to make amends and seek the nod of Nigerians to reposition the country for sustainable growth and development in all ramifications.

Accordingly, he laughed off issues around politicians with the so-called deep pockets, saying money bags, whose illegally acquired wealth has for many years done the country more harm than good, are not in any position to intimidate him in the line up for the party’s presidential ticket.

Born on May 16, 1960, the businessman and motivational speaker, officially joined the PDP in October 2021, saying the achievements recorded under the PDP administration “have been diluted, wasted, or diminished by the present APC (All Progressives Congress) government.”

Momodu, until recently a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, launched Ovation TV in 2015 and followed by the launch of an online newspaper called The Boss. With hundreds of awards and honours for his work in the world of business, politics, literature, music, and the fashion industry, Momodu currently writes a weekly column called “PENdulum”, published on the back page of Thisday newspaper every Saturday.

Many have commended his articles for highlighting existing and emerging issues in Nigeria, as well as “discussing popular topics, current events, and notable people, often in a polemic/critical style.”