The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyorchia Ayu, will be away from Nigeria for two weeks, from Wednesday.
“While away, the Deputy Chairman (North), Amb. Iliya Damagun, will act in his place,” Ayu’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, said in a statement.
He added that Ayu has communicated the handover to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Ayu’s trip overseas comes at a time when the opposition party is battling to end a crisis.
Ayu recently appealed to the acting Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Adolphus Wabara, to help resolve the crisis in the party by reaching out to aggrieved members of the party.
The division in the PDP escalated after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from Adamawa State won the party’s presidential primary in May. An aspirant, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, at the venue of the primary stepped down for Atiku, an action that riled another aspirant, Governor Nyesom Wike of River State.
While Atiku scored 371 votes, Wike came second with 237 votes. The Rivers governor was reportedly miffed again when Atiku snubbed him to announce Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.
Wike also insisted that Ayu (from Benue State) step down for a southerner, arguing that northerners should not hold on to both positions.
In a move to resolve the lingering problems in the party, Walid Jibrin (from Nasarawa State), resigned as PDP BoT Chair last week and Wabara from Abia State replaced him in acting capacity.
Ayu had said members of the National Working Committee would visit Wike in Port Harcourt “for full reconciliation”.
