August 15, (THEWILL) – The embattled National Chairman of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus got a reprieve and survived the scare of his untimely removal during the week, but are still thick clouds hanging over his political future.
The Andoni Prince who braced all odds to emerge as the PDP top helmsman in December 2017 having been backed by the governor of his home state , Rivers State, Governor, Nyesom Wike and the then Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Ayodele Fayose, recently faced the most turbulence period of his political career.
It would also be recalled that the manner of his election to office led to the exodus of many founding members of the party like Professor Tunde Adeniran and former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana. The two, among others detested the way Wike railroaded Secondus to power through what they termed crooked outsmarting of their ambitions and they quickly moved to the Social Democratic Party, SDP. Gana just returned to the PDP recently.
What transpired in the last few weeks therefore, political analysts believe was Secondus’ receipt of sour taste of Wike’s unchallenge power within the PDP.
However, amidst increasing calls for the resignation of Secondus, PDP leaders after a prolong intrigues gave him a soft landing but cut his tenure by two months thus fixing a new national convention of the party for October instead of December 2021.
Though the tenure of the incumbent National Working Committee, NWC led by Secondus was due to elapse on December 6, stakeholders of the party made up of 13 governors, the Board of Trustees, and other organs of the party, brought the convention forward in what is seen as a move to placate anti-Secondus forces who have been pushing for his removal in the past few months.
Sokoto state Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Aminu Tambuwal, said a National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting will hold after which a convention planning committee will be constituted.
The storm
On August 3, 2021, seven members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP resigned from their positions.
The officials resigned in separate letters to the National Secretary of the party, Umar Tsauri, saying they could no longer work with Secondus. Those who resigned are the Deputy National Financial Secretary, Gerald Irona; Deputy National Organising Secretary, Hassan Yakubu; Deputy National Legal Adviser, Ahmed Liman, and Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi.
Others are the Deputy National Woman Leader, Hadizat Umoru; Deputy National Auditor, Divine Arong, and another official who could not be identified at the time of this report.
The intrigue towards removing Secondus reached its peak when some support groups within the party called for his removal from office.
The groups under the aegis of Save PDP Group and Coalition of PDP Youth Groups, made the call during a protest at the party’s National secretariat in Abuja.
The leader of the groups, Tamunotonye Inioribo, while addressing the media, said the protest was organised by a coalition of different PDP support groups, that were dissatisfied with the leadership of Mr Secondus.
Mr Inioribo accused Mr Secondus of polarising the party for his own selfish interest, while also alleging that he was responsible for the defection of three governors and some senators from the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Under Secondus, the PDP Governors Forum, National Working Committee and other organs are divided.”
Mr Inioribo also alleged that no department of the PDP was functioning under Mr Secondus, and he was also creating factions with
Political annalysts however believe that Secondus is just a victim of power play ahead of 2023 presidency.
THEWILL gathered that the Southern PDP governors who are interested in the 2023 presidency believe the surest way of getting the ticket is to remove Secondus from the PDP chairmanship position and also forestall his second term ambition.
Wike who is said to be eyeing the presidency come 2023 is believed to be behind the agitation towards removing Secondus.
Wike it was gathered believe Secondus betrayed him by supporting Atiku Abubakar’s ambition to be president in 2019 as oppose to his own candidate, Aminu Tambuwal.
Speaking with THEWILL, an Abuja based Public Affairs Commentator, Ojo Williams said all the noise that Secondus didn’t perform well as chairman was just to give a dog bad name to hang it.
He said : “It is to be noted that PDP as a party was at low ebb when Secondus assumed power. It has just lost the presidential election for the first time since 1999. It was a very hard beginning, having lost power after been in power for 16 years at a stretch.
“Secondus spearheaded the repackaging of the party and he put it on a sound footing.
“To say Secondus allowed PDP Governors to defect to the ruling APC can’t be a truce. There was nothing he could have done to retain the governors who were forcefully enticed by the ruling party”.
Secondus’ scorecard
Has Secondus – led NWC performed well in office? This question was provided with answer when Secondus addressed journalists in Abuja.
He said “it has been months of ups and downs and I am proud to report that the party is not at the level where we met it. We took over the party when it was still trying to come out of the trauma of losing election and being in opposition for two years under an intolerant ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. We met a psychologically traumatized party struggling to adjust to opposing life after 16 years in power. We inherited a party that had issues with internal democracy. Delegates were not having the final say on who flies the flag of the party in an election. Names of winners were randomly and blatantly changed in Abuja with disregard to the people and the requirements of our constitution.”
As to what he did to ameliorate the situation, Secondus said “delegates of our party across the country had given us the mandate to lead believing in our rebranding campaign message of 3Rs- Reposition, Rebuild and Regain which were designed to recreate and rebrand the party. We quickly hit the ground running in our reform policy. We organized a rebranding conference and embarked on extensive consultations across the country. Our sensitization program took us to rallies in all the geo-political zones.
“By the time our reform programme came on stream, the party had become an attractive brand to accommodate the influx of new members that included the entire leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly then, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, others members of the parliament at federal and state levels as well as three incumbent state Governors of Benue, Kwara and Sokoto who joined us.
“As we approached the general election of 2019, the PDP was already the party to beat. The internal democracy promised in our reform package was already in place. Powers were effectively decentralized to flow from the people. Party tickets were gotten at the congress venue not at party headquarters at state and national levels. Popular and more acceptable candidates emerged at state congresses and national convention.
“Our national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in October 2018 became the first of its kind in Nigeria. It was so transparent that there was no complaint from anybody. Instead, all the contestants resolved to support the winner. All these helped to engender confidence and trust in our leadership.
“Nigerians had earlier realized their mistakes of 2015 and also accepted our apology for any short coming. We carried out one of the most effective campaigns, going to the people with issue based messages not propaganda.
“Nigerians accepted these messages and were ready and charged to vote out the APC whose incompetence and incapacity to govern had become apparent. But what Nigerians never envisaged was that the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari who came to power through a transparent and credible election was not going to conduct free and fair election in 2019.
“As a prelude to their agenda of holding on to power when it was obvious that Nigerians did not want them, all institutions of democracy, the legislature, the judiciary, the opposition and the media were made targets of intimidation and harassment. You all could recall the shocking and unprecedented unilateral removal of the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen. You also recall that midnight attack and arrest of some judges and justices by security operatives of state in the name of fighting corruption”
Continuing, Secondus said “PDP under my leadership had through its reform packages significantly enhanced the image and status of the party”.
But speaking with THEWILL, a member of Campaign for Democracy, Comrade Sola Olawale said Secondus didn’t provide PDP with a strong leadership expected of the main opposition party.
“ He is weak. His speeches are not deep and when he speaks, his speech lacked the fire expected of his position. APC never takes him serious. In the second Republic, whenever Chief Obafemi Awolowo speaks, the ruling National Party of Nigeria and the then president, Alhaji Sheu Shagari felt the heat”.
Will Secondus go for a second term at the October convention of his party?
David Umah , who is a political commentator said it depends on power play in the party. “ We need to wait and see. Let us see the power play that will take place. But I am sure some northern Governors of the party may use to play a game and ensure the north produce the presidential candidate of the party”, Umah said.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
