The Nigerian Xpress exposes the forces behind the festering crisis as well those working for peace in Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
By Akani Alaka
As it is, the crisis afflicting the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP may persist at least until the 31 October date set by its National Executive Committee, NEC for the election of a new set of national officers for the party. Following an order of the court stopping him from presiding over the 28th August meeting where the decision on the convention was taken and the date fixed, Uche Secondus, the embattled national chairman of PDP had handed over to Deputy National Chairman (South), Elder Yemi Akinwonmi.
The PDP deputy national chairman presided over the meeting, with many Nigerians including members of the party assuming that Secondus’ time as chairman of the opposition party was over. But few hours after the NEC meeting, Secondus, in a statement issued by his media office, insisted that he remained the chairman of the party.
He attributed his absence at the NEC meeting to the interim court order from Cross River State High Court. “As a law-abiding citizen, who has been an adherent of the rule of law as a basis for democracy, stayed away out of respect for the courts. Prince Secondus’ four-year mandate to lead the party, given on December 10, 2017, ends by December 2021,” he said while urging the media and the public to disregard any news suggesting that he had stepped down.
Indeed, the first court order suspending Secondus from office was obtained from a State High Court in Rivers. The PDP chairman had obeyed that order and handed over to Akinwonmi.
But the order was countered by another injunction obtained from a court in faraway Kebbi State, ordering him to continue from office until the order suspending him from parading himself as PDP chairman obtained a day to the NEC meeting of the party.
The Trouble Makers in Rivers
However, the battle to remove Secondus from office as soon as possible, the main fulcrum of the crisis in the PDP shifted to Rivers again last week. Just like the court order, the battle has all the imprints of Governor Nyesom Wike who can be appropriately tagged the chief instigator of trouble in the opposition party.
First was the carnival-like visit of leaders of PDP in Andoni, the Local Government Area of Secondus to Ambassador Desmond Akawor, the state chairman of the party in Port Harcourt. The Andoni PDP leaders led by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly had during the visit declared their loyalty to the party and the state governor, Nyesom Wike. “We know that our father, our son is the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. We know that that position came to Andoni because it was zoned to the state as at the period, and that was the interest of the state as at that time,” the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Ikunyi Owaji Ibani who spoke on behalf of PDP leaders during the solidarity visit said.
The visit, as it later turned out was to set the stage for subsequent suspension of Secondus by his Ward 5 in the same local government barely 24 hours later. Chairman of the PDP in Ward 5, Christopher George, announced the suspension during an extraordinary meeting of the Ward 5 PDP members in Ikuru, a town in Andoni local government last Tuesday afternoon. Christopher said Secondus had been suspended by his ward for causing disaffection in the party. He added that seven members of the PDP in the ward were also suspended alongside the PDP national chairman while a Disciplinary Committee was also set up to look into alleged offences at a meeting held on 31st of August, 2021 to discuss matters affecting the party.
“You can quote me anywhere. Until further notice and until you hear from us, our brother, Uche Secondus remains suspended. I reaffirm suspension,” he told journalists. However, The Nigerian Xpress learnt that the seven members suspended alongside Secondus who was also a former state chairman of the PDP were those opposed to the action of the ward executive members.
The move by the ward was an obvious replication of the process that led to the ouster of Adams Oshiomhole as the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
But the PDP chairman wasted no time in dismissing the move, as he affirmed that only the NEC of PDP could discipline the national chairman. “Such action is a mere wish as Article 59(3) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, (the) constitution states clearly that only the National Executive Committee, NEC of the party can discipline the National Chairman or any other National Officer of the party,” the PDP chairman said in a statement by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi.
“Members of the public and the media should therefore be wary of agents out to distract PDP from the focus of retrieving our beloved country from the irreparable damage already done to it by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC,” he added.
PDP Trouble Fallout of Wike Versus Secondus War
The suspension controversies brought to the fore again the fact that Secondus is a major dramatis personae in the crisis afflicting the PDP. The chief antagonist playing the Secondus ouster drum, which the PDP members in Rivers were dancing to is Governor Wike, who ironically was instrumental to the emergence of Secondus as the national chairman of the PDP in 2018.
As a major financier of the party and with the support and loyalties of some governors, the Rivers State governor has become a strong force in the opposition party. Wike was believed to be the architect of the August 3 resignation of the seven national officers of the party, an action believed to be part of the plot to force Secondus out of office.
The seven national officers had, in their different letters to National Working Committee, NWC of the PDP, claimed that they decided to resign as officers of the party because Secondus failed to carry them along in his management of the affairs of the PDP.
But not many, including Secondus, were fooled. The PDP chairman had in a statement by his spokesperson, accused an unnamed leader as the mastermind of the revolt against him. The “strong” party chieftain, he said in the statement “is scheming to install a caretaker committee that will be doing his bidding. He added that the “desperado”, is deploying a large “quantum of public funds” to generate rebellion against him with the intention of “hijacking the structure of the party for his disproportionately large ambition.” Though he did not mention any name, it was very clear that the “strong” party chieftain he was referring to was the governor of Rivers, his home state.
Wike: ‘Yes, I want Secondus To Go’
Wike himself has not hidden his intention to do everything possible to see Secondus out of office. He had pointedly accused the PDP chairman of inefficiency in the management of the affairs of the party. The governor had also blamed the national chairman of PDP for series of defections of members of the party to the ruling APC.
At the 60th birthday party of Liyel Imoke, a former Cross River State governor some months ago, Wike had accused Secondus of being a serial liar. He also blamed him for the defection of Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross River to the APC. Ironically, Ayade himself had cited interference in the affairs of the Cross River chapter of PDP by Wike as one of the reasons for his abandoning the party.
Some analysts claim the fallout between both men was because of the politics of who takes over from Wike as the governor of Rivers State in 2023. Others have traced the problem between both men back to the 2018 Convention of the PDP held in Port Harcourt where against all expectations of Wike, former Vice Atiku Abubakar picked the party’s presidential ticket instead of his preferred Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State.
Yet, there are also speculations that Wike was just interested in kicking Secondus out ahead of the National Convention of the party. He is said to be working with other governors with eyes on the 2023 presidency. “His (Wike’s) plan was to ensure that he (Secondus) did not have the opportunity of contesting for the second term at the next convention of the party so that he is not in a position to influence anything.” Speaking on a television programme on 17 August, Wike agreed that he is the major force behind efforts to remove Secondus from office, but denied having any presidential ambition.
The Rivers State governor said he wanted the Secondus-led NWC to go because they cannot lead the party to victory in the 2023 general elections. He added that the internal rumbling in the PDP was a result of the failure of the Secondus-led NWC to carry out its responsibility as an opposition political party effectively.
According to the governor, with Secondus in charge, the PDP would not be able to achieve its major objective of taking over power from the ruling APC in 2023. “The point is this, the current NWC, as it is today, cannot lead the party to victory. Nobody has said they have not done well, one way or the other, but we are talking about the challenges ahead. That is why we are pushing for the party to have other people lead the party and to give it a different strength altogether. If you know APC, you know that you need a robust, determined leadership of the party (PDP) to make sure you match them word by word, action by action,” he said.
The governor added that anyone who loves the PDP and means well for the party will adhere to the resolutions reached after the intervention of the governors, Board of Trustees and elders of the party to douse the brewing crisis in the party.
Secondus Troublesome Body Language
It was gathered that suspicion that Secondus might not be willing to abide by that resolution, which indicated that he would leave office at the end of October, ahead of the December date for the end of his first four years in office was responsible for fresh move initiated against him in his ward and the court in Rivers.
“The suspicion that the PDP chairman may be exploiting every means to ensure that he stayed in office till the constitutional December 2021 end of his first term or given the opportunity of contesting for the second tenure of office in October became heightened after the visit of Secondus to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State,” said a source. “This was also why Wike began exploiting the judicial option through his proxies with the August 23 suit filed by four members of the PDP to seek an interim injunction restraining Uche Secondus from parading himself as the national chairman of the PDP and as a member of the PDP,” he added.
There is no doubt that the crises in the PDP will continue to fester with the two former allies as the chief architects perhaps till the national convention of the party.
Makinde, Fintiri Also In The Axis of Trouble Makers
But Wike is not alone. He has the support of Oyo State Governor, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde and Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri. Makinde is said to be disenchanted with the Secondus-led NWC for not giving him enough support in the battle against former Governor Ayo Fayose for the control of the Southwest chapter of PDP.
But Makinde eventually was able to get his preferred choices elected into the Southwest zonal executive of the party. Like Wike, Makinde’s opposition to the continuation of Secondus in office has also been linked to the intrigues for the 2023 presidential ticket of PDP.
The speculation was that Makinde, like Wike, is eyeing the possibility of emerging as running mate to a Northern presidential candidate and as such, is determined to ensure the emergence of a chairman that would enhance his chances.
The Oyo State governor himself has not been speaking much on the dilemma in his party and his position on Secondus. But the words of Taofeek Arapaja, who he installed as the National Vice Chairman (Southwest) of PDP is as good as his own. Featuring on a radio programme recently, Arapaja declared support for the move to see Secondus out of office. The former deputy governor of Oyo State blamed the embattled PDP chairman for the defection of three governors from the party to the APC.
Like Wike, he also said the PDP had not been living up as a major opposition party in the country. PDP, he added, had also not demonstrated its desire to take over the leadership of the country in 2023: “The party is shrinking, everything is going haywire and he is not mobilizing for the party. The man is not doing well. He is not reaching out to anybody. He is just sitting down in Abuja. So, the party is not doing well. We are not playing the role of a very strategic opposition party. So, for those of us who believe in winning, repositioning the party, we had to stand up before the party collapses. If you are committed to the party, if you are not PDP in the morning but APC in the night, you will be worried.”
Governor Fintiri has also been having a running battle bringing the Adamawa chapter of PDP under his control and his support for the ouster of Secondus may just be an indication that he has not got enough support on this from the party’s NWC.
PDP Caucus In The House of Representatives
Also, among the trouble makers are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives. They had in a communiqué after the meeting they held following the resignation of seven members of the NWC called on Secondus to also resign. The group is led by Kingsley Chinda, a Rivers lawmaker who Wike had tried to foist on the National Assembly as the leader of the minority caucus without success.
The PDP lawmakers blamed the crisis in their party on the “bedroom managerial attitude” of Mr Secondus. They also accused the embattled PDP chairman of not carrying party members along and that if he is allowed to continue in office, the party would be in grave danger.
Specifically, they urge Secondus “to consider making the necessary personal sacrifice worthy of a leader in the party’s current and future interest with a firm assurance of honourable regard and appreciation by the party leadership now and in years to come, by honourably resigning his position as party chairman immediately, to allow the party an early start.”
Tambuwal Leads PDP’s Governors’ Peace Efforts
While such supporters of Wike have continued to pour petrol on the raging fire in their party, the PDP Governors Forum led by Aminu Tambuwal, the Governor of Sokoto State has taken up the gauntlet of calming the troubled waters.
As was gathered by this newspaper, most PDP governors are indifferent to the removal or retention of Secondus. They are, however, determined to ensure that peace and unity reign in the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
Some of the governors, it was gathered, are also determined to ensure that the problem in the party is solved in a way that will not leave any of the parties feeling cheated. Hence, though they endorsed Secondus’ handover over to Akinwonmi, they had insisted that they have not asked the PDP chairman to resign from office ahead of the last NEC meeting of the party.
The governors had also held several meetings with stakeholders involved in the crisis, including Governor Wike and Secondus. The Tambuwal-led forum was also able to convince all stakeholders to shift the National Convention of the party to October, two months before the expected expiration of the tenure of Secondus-led NWC in what it believed was a win-win situation for the feuding parties. Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, had in his remarks at the NEC meeting said, “We have activated all mechanisms that we have in PDP, to resolve all of our issues.”
He had also at the end of the NEC meeting called on the party members to unite for the sake of the party and the country, warning that, “There is no party to defect to, no government to defect to,” He also dismissed insinuations that some PDP governors were nursing intentions to defect to the APC, stressing that “if you want to go, go where?” For the Sokoto State governor who has not hidden his intention of contesting for the presidency in 2023, there is also a personal interest in ensuring that the current crisis did not consume the PDP.
Thus, it is expected that Tambuwal will continue to work with his colleagues in the days ahead to ensure the survival of the party.
Walid Jubrin-led PDP Board of Trustees Champions Peace
Working with the governors elected on the platform of the party to bring peace to PDP are members of the party’s Board of Trustees led by Senator Walid Jubrin. Senator Jubrin had consistently warned that with the degenerating security and economic situation in the country, PDP must be prepared to provide the right leadership for the country: “Now is the right time for PDP to set its house in order to prepare for the coming elective convention of our national party leaders, and preparations for the coming 2023 general election.”
Members of the Board had also initiated to set up the committee comprising governors, members of the BoT, National Assembly caucus of PDP, the National Working Committee, former governors and former ministers to resolve all contentious issues fueling the crisis in PDP.
David Mark Heads Reconciliation Committee
The former Senate president is heading the committee saddled with the task of finding a lasting solution to the crisis in PDP. The work of the committee includes getting members to withdraw all cases from the courts. Some reports last week indicated that David Mark, a retired General, might present the interim report of his committee to the 93rd National Executive Committee meeting of the party scheduled for September 9. The former Senate president, also a member of the party’s Not, has remained a member of PDP since the party was founded.
Bukola Saraki Making Peace In PDP
Also working with other stakeholders to ensure the return of peace to PDP former is former Kwara governor, Bukola Saraki. The former Senate President is also the chairman of PDP National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee.
The Committee was set up by Secondus with the specific assignment to reconcile aggrieved members to strengthen the party ahead of the 2023 election.
Saraki who is also said to be gearing up to contest for the presidential ticket of the party for the 2023 presidential election has also been prominent in meetings called by the BoT to resolve the Secondus-Wike rift induced crisis of PDP. Also prominent in the efforts to bring peace to PDP is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku Committed To Peace
Atiku had dismissed insinuations that he is working with Wike to sack the PDP Chairman from office. The speculations followed his visit to Rivers and meeting with Wike just before the PDP crisis blew open. But in a statement by Paul Ibe, Atiku explained that the meeting was aimed at reconciling aggrieved members of the party and not to sack Secondus.
He added that he was only interested in the peace and stability of the PDP: “Atiku understands the Constitution of the PDP and what the party says about tenure for party leadership. So he cannot be working against something that he understands and promotes. That is not how Democrats behave. Those are anti-democratic behaviour and that is not who he is. Whoever is saying this should know that this is a beer parlour talk and unnecessary mischief,” he said.
And at the last NEC of the party, he had hailed the crisis resolution mechanism of PDP which he described as efficient. He said that was why PDP has always overcome its crises and will also overcome the current one: “Don’t be surprised that we always try to overcome our internal crisis because if you look at PDP, it has the most experienced people in this country. Whether in the executive wing, whether in the legislature, whether in party administration, we have the most experienced and competent individuals in this party,” he said.
Atiku is also one of those eyeing the 2023 presidential ticket of PDP and it will also be in his interest for the party to remain a viable platform.
Other members of PDP BoT like the former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and others are also part of the efforts to end the crisis in Nigeria’s main opposition party.
Former Governor Seriake Dickson’s Timely Warning
Former Governor Seriake Dickson proved his love for PDP, even while some members of the party were not sure of how they should respond to the crisis which followed the resignation of seven national officers of the party. Dickson had visited Secondus after the news of the mass resignation broke. In a statement he issued after the visit, he warned against the underhand plot to force members of the NWC out of office for a caretaker committee.
He had also called for an emergency NEC meeting where appropriate decisions to stabilize the party would be taken.
The former Bayelsa State chief executive warned that all attempts to hijack the party for service of ambitions of certain individuals should be resisted: “PDP is bigger than any individual and should no longer tolerate people with inordinate ambitions to destroy the party which belongs to all Nigerians. People with ambition must know that unless the party is stabilized and strengthened, their ambition will be of no consequence even if they pocket it. If the PDP shrinks from a party for all to a party for a few, it would lose its selling point and many members and leaders will have no option than to review their membership.”
He also cautioned that the party’s chances of winning the 2023 election may be jeopardized. “I caution all those behind this crisis not to leave any opening to the APC to exploit with their control of the resources and machinery of government,” he said. It was believed that Dickson’s outcry was responsible for the quick response by other stakeholders to initiate the ongoing moves to tackle the crisis in PDP.
Elder Akinwonmi Stabilising PDP
Despite his ill-health, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, the PDP deputy national chairman (South) has asserted his claim to the leadership of the party following the court order from Rivers, which sacked Secondus from office.
He resisted an attempt by Deputy National Chairman (North) of PDP, Senator Sulaiman Nazif to take over the position. “I am a man of peace, not a man of crisis. PDP has a good succession order. There is order here. The chairman is followed by the deputy national chairman one (South), followed by the deputy national chairman two (north),” he said.
He had also promised that at the appropriate time, a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, and the Board of Trustees, BoT would be called. Also, when the court in Kebbi restored Secondus to office three days later, Akinwonmi handed over back to him.
He announced that he had received the court order, which he presented to the caucus meeting. He took over again when another court in Cross River restrained Secondus from parading himself as the PDP chairman.
He presided over the NEC meeting of the party where the date for the national convention was fixed. Akinwonmi who is said to be a loyalist of Secondus has so far diligently worked for the return of peace to PDP despite his ill-health.
