SAN FRANCISCO, February 06, (THEWILL) – In the last few weeks, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been bogged by leadership crisis at the top. The latest saga has polarized its ranks, with at least three sides laying claims to the national chairmanship.
Former Political Adviser to erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has since declared himself national chairman, citing the ruling of an Abuja High Court as impetus. The court had ruled that the current Acting Chairman Uche Secondus, should vacate the office for another party man from the North East. Gulak, himself from the North East, said his action was in line with the party’s Constitution 2012 as amended. He said he acted to avoid a situation where critical organs of the party would meet without a substantive national chairman.
Nevertheless, the PDP Governors Forum, led by Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, maintained it had sacked the embattled Acting National Chairman. The Forum directed him to handover to the National Secretary Prof. Wale Oladipo, pending the appointment of a replacement from the North East. But the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) has dismissed the sack as baseless. Legal Adviser to the NWC, Mr. Victor Kwon vowed that Secondus remains the chairman. Meanwhile, the NWC has set up a 50-man committee to review the party’s Constitution, which the Gulak’s camp has vehemently condemned.
But the governors affirmed that the removal of Secondus was in line with Section 45(1) of the party’s Constitution which states that, “If a national officer of the party is removed or resigns from office, he shall immediately hand over to the National Secretary all records, files and other properties of the party in his or her possession.” While Mimiko assured that the statutory organs of the party comprising; the NWC, National Caucus, Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Executive Council (NEC) would meet to resolve the impasse, the lacuna has deepened.
THEWILL admonishes the PDP to thread softly, if it must remain a vibrant opposition ahead of the 2019 general elections. The BoT’s promise to appoint a candidate to fill the gap vacated by former Chairman Adamu Mu’azu must be done in consultation with critical stakeholders. This stems from the reported divisions among party leaders in the North East zone. We urge the feuding camps to put their house in order, just as it is pertinent for the party to consider the implications of having both its national chairman and presidential candidate from the north, as current permutations suggest.
Logically, THEWILL notes that there is need for a balance of forces as the second term bid of APC’s presidential candidate would likely remain in the north, whether or not President Muhammadu Buhari decides to seek a re-election, except of course we are thrown a curve ball by nature.
Coming at a time when the PDP is fighting a credibility battle; with its top leaders undergoing trials over corruption charges, not resolving the logjam within the former ruling party, which had boasted that it would remain in power for a full 60 uninterrupted years, would complicate the template and further jeopardize its relevance as a vibrant opposition party.
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