PDP Primaries: Ayu and Tunde Ayeni’s Plot Against Atiku’s Opponents exposed

In fact, the last-minute postponement of the dates of the party primaries might not be unconnected with the imminent loss of Atiku if the primaries commenced as earlier scheduled.

According to sources in the party, the hurried postponement was Ayu’s gesture to buy time for Atiku to put his house in order, as he is most likely to lose if the primaries went ahead. Tunde Ayeni was reported to have made this arrangement with Ayu when it became glaring that a major force poised to arrest the negative drift in the party had emerged, and ready to get Ayu to commit to providing a level-playing field for all aspirants. Advertisement

The PDP chairman, Ayu had come under scrutiny when a political pressure group, Concern for Democratic Rights (CDR), exposed the party chairman’s shenanigans with Tunde Ayeni in a bid to stage skewed primaries to ensure Atiku’s victory by all means.

The group called for fair play for all aspirants and admonished the Chairman to dissociate from Tunde Ayeni and his mistress with whom the Chairman is now close to.

Despite calls for a level-playing field from different quarters, Ayu and Ayeni are unperturbed by the concerns raised by party stakeholders. The two have shown utter disregard for the party faithful, as they rate their friendship over the overall welfare and major goal of the party.

CDR recently in a statement questioned Ayu’s integrity and also described as “high-handedness” the revelation that the PDP chairman stays in Tunde Ayeni’s guest house while flying around in his battered private jet.

According to Nuhu, “Mr. Chairman should desist from threading that path because it is not a path of honour.

“You cannot be so close to an ally of an aspirant and be seen to be just and fair. Information at our disposal also indicates that Mr. Chairman is very close to Gail Fajembola, the woman who is equally romantically linked to Mr. Ayeni. How weird!”

Those in the know revealed that it was Ayeni who linked Gail up with Iyorcha Ayu to help her with the interior decorations contract. As an opportunist that Gail is, she has since warmed her way into Ayu’s heart.

Meanwhile, feelers from the party show that Iyorcha Ayu has remained adamant to voices of reason, as he continues his ‘deep’ and ‘questionable’ relationship with Tunde Ayeni.

As the Presidential primary election of the party inches closer, Ayu’s ‘unfair bond’ with Atiku’s close associate, Ayeni, has no doubt raised questions over a possible free, fair and credible primary election expected to be conducted by the Benue-born PDP national chairman.

Other presidential aspirants and party stalwarts are also unhappy about the development – a situation which could herald PDP implosion, political pundits opined.

Ayeni, a Nigerian lawyer and investor whose business empire is said to be in disarray at the moment, is a known ally of Atiku Abubakar and was one of the major financiers who bankrolled the former VP’s presidential bid in the 2019 general election. His current relationship with Ayu may yet again cost PDP and Atiku to regain federal power.

“To what end is this emergency friendship between Ayeni and Ayu?” Many have been asking. The answer is not far-fetched. Ayeni is a wily, calculative opportunist who loves to feast where he hardly sows. Reports say he has fallen on bad times and sees an Atiku presidency as a great opportunity to launch himself back to reckoning in the corridors of power, influence and money, as he was back in the days when Goodluck Jonathan reigned. This is why he is throwing what is left of his dwindled estate into the Atiku project.

Ayeni has reportedly lost so much that he had to sell his London home. “The man is very broke now that he has sold his house in London. He even sent his daughter to move his wife whose passport he has seized and his son’s belongings from the house before selling it,” a reliable source informed.

His meanness is also felt by his staff whom he uses, maltreats, dumps and throws out at will.

Ayeni’s inhumanity walks on all fours, and knows no boundaries. For a man who fought tooth and nail to fleece his late friend, Captain Hosa Okunbor, his hard-earned business, Ayeni has now transferred the enmity to late Okunbor’s children. Bent on taking over their father’s legacy, he has continued to devise various devious means to have them surrender their father’s properties to him.

Meanwhile, some supporters of Atiku within the PDP are saddened by Atiku’s continued association with Tunde Ayeni. Tunde is seen by many as a major barrier that can once again scuttle Atiku’s efforts in 2023 as he did in 2019 when he was going about carelessly revealing Atiku’s strategies to the opposition figures. That aside, Tunde’s role in bringing Skye Bank to bankruptcy does not augur well for the Turaki Adamawa’s image. Words have it that Tunde is the one who took it upon himself to do the dirty job of intimidating Atiku’s estranged wife, Jennifer. In fact, Atiku’s closeness to Tunde is judged as a very bad public perception.