PDP convention under threat over Secondus

The National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), scheduled for March 2016, may not hold after all. This is due to the lingering confusion over who leads the opposition party. A Federal High Court in Abuja had, last month, sacked Prince Uche Secondus as the acting National Chairman of the party, following a court case instituted by a former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ahmed Gulak. Secondus has gone on appeal to contest the court’s decision.

Sources at the PDP indicated that the party chiefs are worried that Secondus might eventually put the plans of the party to return to power in 2019 in danger.

A source said that from the beginning, when the former National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mauzu left office, it was clear that the vacancy would be filled by another candidate from the North-East, where Muazu came from. Rather, the source accused Secondus of usurping the position to the detriment of the party.

The position is based on the provisions of the PDP constitution, which said that whenever there is vacancy at any position of the National Working Committee (NWC), another person from the region of the former occupant would fill the void. Part Six of Section 47 of the PDP Constitution states that: “Where a vacancy occurs in any office of the party, the Executive Committee of the appropriate level shall appoint another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from, pending the conduct of election to fill the vacancy.” That, basically, is the bone of contention within the party, for which Gulak went to court.

When Mauzu vacated office, the PDP appointed Secondus, who was the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party to act. But Secondus has refused to vacate the office for the North-East to complete its tenure, which will end in March. Already, New Telegraph gathered that elders of the party are worried that if Secondus’ legal battle drags to March (since he is at the Appeal Court), the North-East will also stake a claim to the chairmanship, thereby creating another round of crisis for the party.

By the calculations of the party, the 2019 presidential ticket will be zoned to the North. That means that the chairman of the party will come from the South.

A source in the party said: “Since the South-East has previously taken its shot at the chairmanship, the party has zeroed its mind to the South-South or South-West. The chairman will come from either of the two zones this year if the convention holds. But the North-East needs to complete its tenure which will expire in March. But with the way things are, we don’t know if the convention will hold or not.” It was further gathered that within the PDP, many are rooting for the chairman to come from the South-South.

It was further learnt that proponents of the South-South chairmanship are looking towards the now embattled Founder of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi. Dokpesi is being tried for collecting N2.1 billion from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd). Another source at the party said that the projection of Dokpesi was based on his wide connections to some powerful forces in the Nigerian power equation, including his closeness to former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and the media. “You recall that it was Dokpesi who convened the PDP National Conference in Abuja recently.

He has all the connections that we need both in the north and the south. That is probably why he is in trouble today. With his wide reach across board and in the media, if he becomes the national Chairman of our party, you know what it means,” a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).

It was further gathered that following the victory of Gulak in court over Secondus, about 22 people in the North-East have presented themselves for the office of the chairmanship of the party. It was learnt that the party would either conduct a mini-election for one of them or tell Governors Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe) and Dairus Ishaku (Taraba), to pick one out of the lot.

Gulak neither picked his calls nor replied to a text message sent to him on the matter. The party is also angry with Secondus for fixing the Convention for March. By the Constitution of the PDP, the National Working Committee (NWC) does not have the power to convene a convention. An acting Chairman also does not convene a convention.

It is the National Executive Committee (NEC) that is saddled with that responsibility. The NEC comprises mostly members of the NWC, the president of the country (if a PDP member), all PDP state governors, Chairman and Secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT), all state chairmen, all former national chairmen of the party, all former national secretaries, chairmen and secretaries of the BOT and ex-officio members of the party.

Article 2 of Section 31 of the PDP constitution states: “The National Executive Committee shall convene the National Convention and appoint a Convention Organising Committee, which shall circulate the convention information in advance and ensure that the concerns of the members are reflected on the agenda.” Leaders of the party are worried that with Secondus clinging to power by going to the appeal, the plans of the party to prepare for the election will be in danger. “We understand his frustration. He wants to be in control of who succeeds him or might want to run for the chairmanship.

But, is that why we are wobbling like this? They should allow the party be,” said a PDP leader from the South-West. Meanwhile, the party has said there is no going back on its March congresses and national convention. It also denied personal ambition of the present NWC to serve in the next party leadership. PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in an interview, said that the congresses and national convention is a constitutional matter, and therefore nothing will stop it from holding.

“We are holding the National Convention, nothing and nobody can stop the convention; it is a constitutional matter. If anybody has opinion or position to canvass, let him come to the convention venue,” he said. Metuh noted that there is a lot of indiscipline and a lot of personal opinion in the party in the past nine months, but said the NWC is determined to assert its constitutional responsibility.

“The party has a leadership, we are not rudderless. From this January, we will show fully who is in running the affairs of this party. We will no longer condone indiscipline in PDP,” he declared. He said some NWC members were not interested to serve in the next party leadership and were planning to retire. “Speaking for myself, I am retiring after 17 years. But between now and March, I am going to give the best as the National Publicity Secretary of PDP,” he assured.