It was learnt that he signaled his intension to leave during a meeting with the top echelon of the party during a gathering of the party’s National Working Committee at the national secretariat in Abuja, on Tuesday.
A party source who pleaded for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media on the matter, said the national chairman delivered what sounded like “his valedictory speech.”
He informed his colleagues in the NWC of his intention to step down and allow others build on the foundation he is leaving behind.
The source said, “He told us he was quitting. He took us by surprise because he gave no indication that this is what he wanted to do because we have been consulting on how to prosecute the 2015 elections.”
When contacted, Nwanyawu confirmed this development in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
He said, “My tenure has expired and we are having our national convention in the next three weeks, I will step down then.”
Although Nwanyanwu who has been in office since 2004 has completed two terms in the office, some stakeholders of the party tried to convince him to stay on since the party’s constitution does not have term limits for the position of chairman.
Some observers however expressed the opinion that Nwanyanwu’s decision was a direct result of the recent decision of the party’s only governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to dump the party to rejoin the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
Although Nwanyanwu is yet to make public his next political move, many fear that his exit will lead to several other defections which could mark the beginning of the end of one of several smaller opposition parties
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