As the Peoples Democratic Party prepares for a fresh national convention in Port Harcourt on August 17, some leaders of the party have indicated their willingness to vie for its national chairmanship position. Prominent among them are former deputy national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, a member of the Board of Trustees, Chief Bode George, and Professor Tunde Adeniran.
But there are others who are also believed to be nursing the ambition of becoming the next national chairman of the opposition party. They include, chairman of Daar Communications Plc, owners of African Independent Television, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Chief Bode Olajumoke, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun and Mr. Jimi Agbaje.
PDP had held an expanded national caucus meeting last Thursday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, to try to resolve the leadership crisis that has brewed in the party since its May 21 national convention in Port Harcourt. That convention was marred by controversy following the decision to remove Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman and constitute a national caretaker committee led by Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi.
Besides fixing the date for a new convention, the national caucus meeting also decided to zone the post of PDP national chairman to the South. This followed the decision at the last convention to zone the presidential position ahead of the 2019 general election to the North. The national caucus also decided to constitute a reconciliation committee headed by the deputy senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, to reunite members of the PDP in the South-west ahead of the national convention.
The decision to hold a new convention and zone the chairmanship post to the South has caused intense politicking within PDP, as prominent southern members struggle quietly to win support for themselves ahead of the contest for the headship of the main opposition party.
Secondus, from Rivers State in the South-south geopolitical zone, had led the party for almost eight months in acting capacity after the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Muazu as national chairman, before handing over to Sheriff. He is being tipped as the likely person to clinch the chairmanship post if the choice is narrowed to the South-south. The former party Deputy National Chairman had been positioning himself for the post since he handed over to Sheriff.
The source said, “Secondus knows that as a well-grounded party man with an added advantage of being close to the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, he stood a good chance of picking the top job. All he has been doing is to play safe and avoid drawing attention to his ambition so as not to arouse suspicion from other interested parties.”
A source close to George confirmed last night that he was in the chairmanship race, stressing that he has been “drafted by the South-west PDP to lead the way for the zone.”
Adeniran also confirmed his participation in the race. But the issue of who becomes the next national chairman of PDP has seemed to be made more difficult by disagreement among stakeholders from the South-west. It was learnt that the recent crisis that rocked the party in the zone was the result of a clash of interests.
Best believe it PDP is about to come out Better, Bigger and Stronger.
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