Iyorchia Ayu, the pawn in the game of chess
The suspended and sacked national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Mr. Iyorchia Ayu, is an exact pawn in the game of chess. He fronts the battle, receives bullets and at the end of the day, he is offered as the lamb on the political altar.
The ex president of the Senate didn’t see his outright suspension and removal as something that would happen that soon. Mr. Iyorchia Ayu took over towards the end of 2021 from another sacked chairman Uche Secondus.
The southern politicians including, but not limited to, Nyesom Wike, Seyi Makinde, Ayodele Fayose, Ugwuanyi, and a host of others worked for the removal of Secondus to pave the way for Iyorchia Ayu to become the national chairman of the party.
Their expectations, of course, included that with the chairmanship in the northern region, the presidential ticket of the party would go to the southern part. And one of them would grab it.
Yet Mr. Atiku Abubakar, who was nursing another shot to the presidency, didn’t want the chairmanship to go to his northeastern or northwestern side. Hence, he preferred someone from the north central, a Christian for that matter.
They all agreed to use Mr. Iyorchia Ayu as the chairman. In the game of chess, there is little or no hesitation to use the pawn. The consensus was very fast and they adopted him in the October Congress of the party.
But things didn’t go as the political gladiators foresaw. The northern powers forced the PDP leadership to shun or jettison the conventional zoning formula. That is the albatross of the party and Iyorchia Ayu himself.
The southern leaders led by Nyesom Wike cried foul. The ex vice president won the primary eventually, and a fresh agitation started. The southern hegemony called for resignation or removal of the national chairman.
Their basic argument is that it would be wrong for both the candidate of the party for the presidency and the national chairman to hail from the same geopolitical zone or region. Hence, they said the seat of the chairman should be ceded to the south.
Atiku Abubakar felt that the G-5 governors of the People’s Democratic Party were not actually targeting Mr. Iyorchia Ayu. He knew that the ultimate goal was to pull him down, hence, he said that the chairman would stay. He definitely used the Benue man as a shield.
That is one particular role that the pawn performs in the game of chess. If it’s difficult to pull the chairman down, Mr. Atiku Abubakar would be safe. That the ex vice president defended Ayu didn’t mean Atiku was loyal to the embattled Benue politician.
After the general elections, the ex vice president became silent although he pulled some stunts shortly after the declaration of the results. Iyorchia Ayu started having problems right at home in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State. He received a suspension letter.
News spread on Tuesday that an acting chairman has emerged. When Atiku Abubakar lost the race and the fight, he relinquished his shield, his pawn, Iyorchia Ayu for political slaughtering.
The ex senate president has lost both his seat and honour. He will be among the national chairmen of the party to unceremoniously leave the office. He is the pawn for a purpose.
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