ON WEDNESDAY, 29th of June 2022, a news report circulates online with a claim that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has sacked Senator Iyorchia Ayu as its National Chairman.
A Twitter user, LMAN with the username @L_man__, claimed that the PDP has sacked the party chairman for misappropriation.
He added that the party has appointed its Deputy National Chairman (North), Umar Damagum as its acting chairman.
“BREAKING PDP NWC Kicks Out Senator Iyorcha Ayu As National Chairman For Misappropriation, Appionts Damagum As Acting Chairman . PDP In Crisis !,” his tweet read.
The news was also published by blogs such as 9newsng and dezmayorz.
THE CLAIM
PDP sacks Senator Iyorchia Ayu as its National Chairman, appoints Damagum as acting chairman.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
PDP’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in a statement seen by The FactCheckHub, revealed that he is currently on a two-week leave.
The statement signed by his Special Adviser on Communication, Simon Imobo-Tswam, said Ayu will be back next week to resume duties, specifically on July 6, 2022.
“It was in that acting capacity that he (Damagum) today, presided over the inauguration of the Osun State Gubernatorial Campaign Council, headed by the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, H.E. Douye Diri.
“If not that the authors of the mischievous and baseless Facebook posts were out to serve nefarious interests, they would have heard when the acting national chairman, Amb. Damagun, said during the ceremony today: “On behalf of my able National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, I hereby inaugurate you.”
“The general public is, therefore, advised to ignore the mischievous social media publications as they are purely the work of mischief-makers and idle minds,” the statement reads.
Similarly, the PDP national publicity secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, has described the news of the replacement of Ayu as false.
Ologunagba in a statement said the report is the handiwork of people that are trying to destabilize the party.
“Such a report is completely false and a product of the imagination of mischief makers with the intent to destabilize our Party, create an impression of crisis within our ranks and mislead the unsuspecting members of the public,” he stated.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the PDP has sacked Senator Iyorchia Ayu as its national chairman and appointed Umar Damagum in his place is FALSE; as findings show that Damagum is acting in the party’s chairmanship capacity, while Ayu is away on leave.
This report is republished from the FactCheckHub.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.