How Iyorchia Ayu may become Atiku’s ‘Secret Weapon’ if Atiku contests PDP presidential ticket

Ahead of the 2023 general election, the issue of which zone should produce the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has become a bone of contention.

Although the new PDP National Working Committee under the leadership of Senator Iyorchia Ayu disclosed that the party’s 2023 presidential ticket is open to all six geopolitical zones, there are indications that Wike and other political juggernauts from the south are working to ensure that the PDP’s next presidential candidate is of southern extraction

There has been an uneasy calm in the PDP since Governor Nyesom Wike, who is perhaps the most influential PDP governor asserted that the north can’t stop the south from getting PDP presidential ticket and that the southern leaders will soon declare their decision on the upcoming presidential election.

Although Atiku Abubakar who is from the north hasn’t declared his intention to vie for the highest office in the land, there is strong speculation that he may officially declare his ambition in the first quarter of 2022.

Iyorchia Ayu is a long-time political associate of Atiku Abubakar. In an interview, Ayu revealed that their relationship dates back to 1993 during their days in Social Democratic Party (SDP) when he was a Senate President, and Atiku was a presidential aspirant. We also saw how they battled side-by-side in the past and most famously in 2007 when Ayu was the head of Atiku’s presidential campaign on the Action Congress (AC) platform.

Ayu’s political antecedents suggest that he is a staunch supporter of former Vice President Abubakar. With Iyorchia Ayu as the Chairman of the PDP National Working Committee, if Atiku joins the race for PDP presidential ticket, he may have an edge over other aspirants. In my opinion, Ayu will most likely favor Atiku over other aspirants due to the good relationship they have.