PDP: Secondus takes over, to focus on party’s return to power in 2019

THE new National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus and other members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the Party on Monday formally took over its administration from the out gone Senator Ahmed Makarfi led National Caretaker Committee.

Speaking at the brief handing and taking over ceremony at the Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja yesterday ‎Secondus declared the main agenda of his team would be how the Party would win the 2019 elections

He promised that in pursuing this agenda to a logical conclusion, his team would remain focused and would not be allowed to be distracted by the All Progressives Congress, APC which had failed the Nation in all the promises it made before assuming power.

Secondus commended the Senator Makarfi led National Caretaker Committee for their roles in putting the Party together from the pieces which led to the successful elective National Convention held last Saturday which produced the new National Executive, saying the names of the members of the team would be written in gold while writing the history of the Party.

According to him, “Makarfi, you are the one that God chose at the right time in Port Harcourt in confidence. You know, power comes from God. So whether you like his face or not, he had a mission and he has accomplished that mission in the most trying times of our party, at a time people were so scared and afraid that there would be nothing like the PDP. You are our hero. History will remember you

“Nigerians can no longer be fooled by false propaganda. They will hear the truth and the truth will save the country, not by false propaganda. We need you to standby because your advice, input will be very useful if we must move forward

“I am a product of the mercies and miracles of God. At all times and in all nations, God chooses who leads. And so power comes from God, not from man

“By the special grace of God, elections have come and gone and I declare to you that there is no victor, no vanquished. Our first assignment will be to bring all and sundry together, that is reconciliation

“We reassure leaders of our party especially those who contested in this election. We have already started work and by the grace of God, it will be productive.  We promise to rebuild the party to regain the lost grounds. That will start today‎

“As I walked in through the gate, it was symbolic; I asked that the gate be thrown open. I hereby declared the gate to this party open to all our people irrespective of their religious beliefs, their class. They are free to come into the party especially those who left for one reason or the other

“This is the only platform that does not belong to any group or big man. This is a party that provides for the big, the small and the less privileged

“We will never be distracted by the ruling party false propaganda. Nigerians know the truth now that all they have been saying in the last two years are mere lies. To go outside to revenge and to intimidate Nigerians

“My chairman you have organised the best convention in the history of any political party in our nation. You will take the new message to the grassroots because we know that the APC and their government are broken. They are running a broken government. We need to rescue our nation from their hands to rebuild our country once more

“Let me assure the state chapters and our state chairmen that from today, you will have full powers to operate to make sure that our party progress in the right direction and I will empower you on behalf of the EXCO

“We will decentralise power from the centre so that we will be less busy here so that we can focus on the same mission to reclaim our lost grounds in 2019.

“We will make sure that there is no more imposition. We will make sure that the era of impunity has come and gone and we want to warn our leaders and ourselves that with this take over today, let us not misuse the word, impunity. It has come and gone. ‎The old order is gone. We will operate in the new order. There will be transparency in primaries.

ALSO READ: How Secondus won PDP’s chairmanship

“In the next couple of days, the NWC will decide when we will have our retreat. And after the retreat, we will come out with policies and direction and by the grace of God, we will hit the ground running.

Responding on behalf of the out gone National Caretaker Committee, Makarfi expressed confidence in the ability of the new leadership to reposition the PDP, preparatory to taking over power in 2019,

According to him, “the task before us is a task that requires trusted and capable men and women who will traverse the length and breadth of this country to reconnect where the connection is affected by bad weather,”