The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship aspirant, Terhile Utaan, has said that he should not be held accountable for taking his kinsman and former national chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, to court.
Utaan made this statement on Wednesday following a consultation tour to Makurdi with party officials and elders from the Tiv ethnic group organised by G14.
According to him, his going to court was a significant sacrifice to salvage the party, which he claimed was in critical disarray at the time.
“I did not remove Dr Iyorchia Ayu, you all know there was a lot of confusion when he was suspended by his Ijorov council ward because he said he was not removed and the ward chairman said he was removed.
“It was in the light of this confusion that I went to court to seek interpretation of what the constitution of PDP says.
“So, what I did was courageous and it was an intervention to save the soul of the party. My going to court was a sacrifice to salvage PDP.”
He claimed to reconcile the party’s factions to seize power from the ruling All Progressive Congress.
He stated that he was coming out to intervene in the party, saying, “If I emerge, my immediate task is to unify the party because it has lost its soul.”
Speaking to reporters, G14 leader Laha Dzever stated that the aspirant just came to discuss with party leadership in the state’s Tiv 14 local government regions about his aspirations.
Dzever stated that they told him that if he became national chairman, he would need to unite the party.
“We blessed his aspiration and also told him of the great task ahead if he emerges the national chairman because the party is fragmented.”