Burden of Secondus

Last week, the Prince UcheSecondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marked its third year in office. LEON USIGBE assesses its standing and ongoing intrigues in the main opposition party in the buildup to the next political dispensation.

PRINCE Uche Secondus was a child of crisis from the day he emerged as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2017. He was not the favoured candidate by virtue of his South-South origin. That is if the argument of southwest stakeholders were to be considered. Politicians from this zone, including Chief Bode George had insisted that there was an understanding for the post to be zoned to the South-West, and therefore, Secondus was not qualified to hold the office at the time.

What happened was that under the outgoing national caretaker committee led by a former Kaduna State governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the party had approved that the post of the national chairman should go to the South, and had also encouraged the region to micro-zone it to any of the three geo-political zones that make up the region. However, the southern stakeholders were unable to reach a common ground, hence the decision reverted to the national convention, which threw it open to all interested southern candidates. George was livid, so too were other South-West chairmanship candidates, including former ministers: Professor Tunde Adeniran and Professor Taoheed Adedoja; former governors: Chief Rashid Adedoja and Otunba Gbenga Daniel; Mr Jimi Agbaje, as well as Mr Aderemi Olusegun.

George withdrew from the race on the eve of the planned elective convention. But after contesting the ballot along with Dr Raymond Dokpesi, Professor Adeniran and Professor Adedoja,  Secondus was returned as the national chairman of the main opposition party, signaling the beginning of a new era of turbulence in the checkered history of the PDP. Adeniran left the party in frustration and Taoheed headed to the courts to challenge the outcome of the convention over an apparent misspelling of his name on the ballot.

Patching up cracks

Therefore, Secondus immediate headache upon being elected was how to patch up the yawning cracks caused by the intrigues of the national chairmanship election. To arrest the slide into abyss, he immediately unveiled an agenda to reconcile, rebuild, reposition the party and recapture power.  “No more imposition, no more impunity. Every member of this party as from this moment consider himself/herself equal shareholder in our common destiny,” he promised party faithful who looked forward to the new leadership with optimism.

In the weeks and months that followed the convention, the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) seemed to inspire confidence in the party again after the morale-dashing 2015 electoral defeat as many of its members who had defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) began to retrace their steps and return to the PDP. Easily the most significant of these returnees was former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who, in 2014, joined some governors to leave the PDP in protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence as the sole candidate of the party presidential ticket in the 2015 election. Atiku had explained that he dumped the PDP because “I believed it was no longer aligned to the principles of equity, democracy, and social justice upon which we had founded it.” But under the Secondus-led PDP NWC, he found it comfortable enough to return and recommence the pursuit his political ambition. “So, today I want to let you know that I am returning home to the PDP as the issues that led me to leave it have now been resolved and it is clear that the APC has let the Nigerian people, and especially our young people down,” he said in a statement announcing his return to the platform on which he served as the nation’s number two citizen.

The 2019 general election

However, with the primaries for the 2019 general elections looming in the horizon, there was once again apprehension among party stakeholders about its fate despite Secondus’ repeated assurances that the leadership would conduct one of the most transparent exercises that could be seen in Nigeria.  The subsequent congresses from the ward to the state levels were praised for their lack of usual interference and imposition. Secondus got the plaudits for presiding over and pulling off the exercises with little rancor. Again, with 12 presidential aspirants going head-to-head in the October 5-6, 2018 convention to elect its flag bearer for the 2019 election, Secondus had his work cut out to deliver on his promise to guarantee a level playing ground. He did. The exercise was largely acclaimed to have the ingredients of a free, fair, and transparent primary election.

Having crossed that hurdle, the 2019 general election was always going to be a hard nut to crack for the PDP, a battered and much-maligned main opposition party. Not even the most sublime of political savviness was expected to be sufficient to enable it to unseat a determined ruling party. In spite of running the PDP from its perceived position of weakness, post-2015 election, Secondus succeeded in steering  it into regaining four states to raise its stake to 15 in the 2019 exercise from the 11 states it was able to muster in 2015.

Subsequently, the PDP NWC under the Rivers State-born politician was to mount a stiff legal challenge to the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the 2019 presidential election but to no avail as both the Presidential Appeals Tribunal and the Supreme Court affirmed the APC candidate as the valid winner of the presidential election.

Psychologically traumatised party

Last week, Secondus did a self-appraisal of his three years at the helms during a media event in Abuja: “It has been 36 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 the election and being in opposition for two years under an intolerant ruling party, the APC. We met a psychologically traumatised 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.”

Secondus believes that his leadership has succeeded in its mission to reconcile, reposition, and rebuild in accordance with the mandate that was given to him by party delegates. “By the time our reform program 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, other members of the parliament at federal and state levels as well as three incumbent state Governors of Benue, Kwara and Sokoto who joined us,” he enthused.

The PDP’s image and status have been significantly enhanced through reform initiatives leading Secondus to believe that “all over the country the party remains the bride.” The PDP-controlled states rose from 11 to 16 and could have been more “if not for the shameless ambush of the APC in Osun, Kano, Kogi, and Imo states,” according to the party boss. “Internally, the party has also used its in-house means to resolve issues making PDP the right party to belong in this country today. Nothing supports this assertion more than, that after five and half years, the ruling APC instead of trying to put their tattered house in order is busy begging and coercing our members to join them with fake and unrealistic promises. At the risk of being seen as blowing our own trumpet, it’s necessary to note that this NWC is the first in transparency and accountability, the first to function effectively for three years without any scandal or dent of corruption. The first, also to successfully render an account of its monetary expenditures to both NEC of our party and to INEC as statutorily required of us to do,” Secondus has been quick to point out.

Body blow

The most significant body blow to the Secondus-led PDP NWC is, arguably, the defection of Governor Dave Umahi, from the party to the ruling APC. Though observers believe that the Ebonyi governor had always felt more comfortable in the midst of APC politicians than the comradeship of his party members and that his excuse for exiting the PDP is at best flimsy, they think it is still a failure of the party leadership to have let him leave. There is also a simmering suspicion as to what Secondus real intention is as some party members seem to think that he is being driven by his ambition for a second tenure, leading him to appropriate the party structures to himself. Yet, there are other members who hold that Secondus is just an appendage of his state governor, Nyesom Wike, on whose sole behalf he allegedly administers the PDP.

This though has become more difficult to reconcile with the recent outburst against the Secondus-led PDP NWC by the Rivers State governor who surprisingly posited that the NWC is deepening cracks in the party and busy creating crisis among governors using two former governors of Imo and Cross River states and a present Senator from Benue State.  “An opposition party ought to be united, to work, to take over the affairs of government because people are waiting for this opportunity, but the current leadership of NWC is not prepared for that. Rather, what they have done is to constitute some people to sow a seed of discord among governors for their own selfish interest. And that will boomerang; that will consume them.” Wike declared in a statement, adding: “PDP ought to have harvested from the inefficiency of the APC, from the maladministration of the APC. Ordinarily, that is what the opposition party ought to do. If you ask me, are Nigerians waiting for a change? Yes. If you ask me as a member of PDP, am I ready to support PDP to takeover? Yes! But, if you ask me currently as it is, is the leadership of the party willing for us to harvest this opportunity for a change? I will say No!”

The Rivers governor further alleged that the NWC as presently constituted is merely interested in retaining the current structure of the party to remain in power, and not to win the 2023 election, thus, validating what other members fear.  “The present National Working Committee is not interested or doing anything to take over the realms of government in 2023. When your interest is to remain in power, you are no longer interested to win the election,” he said.

Party of the future

Despite all this, Secondus says he is guiding the party to focus on the future. He tells party faithful that after the ongoing post-mortem on the PDP’s performance in the 2019 election, it will press ahead with the programme to recruit and enhance the position of youth in the party and the country in his belief that the PDP is the party of the youth and the party of the future. An overly optimistic Secondus proclaimed: “Our e-membership registration is to begin in 2021 unfailingly, having secured the approval of its take-off from the NEC of our party. We also intend to finalise the peace and reconciliation process within the party with a view to entering the general election as one united and focused political family. The 2019 general election appraisal committee is also expected to finalise its report and some decisions are to be taken and implemented from it. In the next one year, we also intend to continue the reorganisation of our administrative structure to bring us to the realistic opposition status through digitalization and upgrading of our offices.”

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

COVID-19 Infections Surge Again As Nigeria Records Highest Weekly Cases In Four Months

Last week, the country’s COVID-19 infections witnessed yet another significant increase. Nigeria recorded 3,817 new COVID-19 infections which is the highest the country has recorded in over four months, Tribune Online analysis shows…

[ICYMI] Minutes After Electoral College Elected Joe Biden, US Attorney General Resigns (Resignation Letter Inside)

A close ally of President Donald Trump and the United States Attorney General, William Barr, has resigned his appointment after holding a meeting with the president…

Bandits Moved Abducted 333 School Boys On Bikes —DHQ

THE Nigerian Army, on Monday, gave more insight into the abduction of school children in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State…

Pollution, Deforestation: How Ignorance, Unclear Environmental Policies Influence Booming Fish Smoking Industry

Rays of the afternoon sun pelted her head as she fanned the embers beneath the half-cut iron drum with the smoke permeating the air. “This smoke is unbearable, Iya Maria,” said one of the three neighbours conversing under a makeshift shed about five meters away. Their voices rose and fell intermittently…