Also, a PDP chieftain in Oyo State, Dare Adeleke, insisted Ayu has no authority under the constitution to stop any candidate from running for office.

In an interview with newsmen in Ibadan, Adeleke, who is also Executive Chairman, Oyo Pacesetters Transport Company, said: “I dare Ayu to try such a move. He has become a narcissistic autocrat who now indulges in hallucinatory images of false grandeur from a post that he should not be occupying.

“Ayu does not have any right under the party’s constitution to stop any candidate with a mere signature, as he boasted.

“It would seem that the northern dominance is truly the agenda, going by these hubristic utterances from someone who should be forging unity in the party, especially with the general elections so close.

“What we are demanding is justice, equity and fairness; the presidential candidate and the national chairman cannot come from the same zone, and we remain consistent in our demand that Ayu must go!”