The alleged move by some governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ‎force other chairmanship contenders out of the race in favour of Prince Uche Secondus has suffered a setback, Daily Trust reports.
Secondus, who is from the South South was at a time the deputy national chairman of the party and later served as its acting national chairman following the resignation of ex- Governor Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu.
PDP governors and other critical stakeholders’ ‎of the party, including Board of Trustees (BoT) members, former governors and ex-ministers, had met in Enugu on Sunday to prepare grounds for the December 9 convention.
Sources at the meeting which ended in the early hours of yesterday, told our correspondent in telephone interviews that Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), and Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), insisted that other aspirants ‎should step down for Secondus.
But a statement from the Bayelsa State Government House, signed by the Chief Press secretary to the state governor, Francis Ottah Agbo, said the stakeholders had resolved to work with any candidate who emerged as the party’s chairman
One of the stakeholders from the South West specifically told Daily Trust that the move by Fayose and Wike to make Secondus a sole candidate for the chairmanship post hit the rock following resistance by other governors and stakeholders.
‎According to him, some party bigwigs at the meeting threatened to pull out of the PDP if other contenders were forced to shelve their ambitions.
He said it was after a stormy closed-door session that the governors called all the eight aspirants to speak on their plans for the PDP if given the mandate.
Another source at the meeting added the it was decided to allow all aspirant facing trial on corruption allegation to go ahead with their aspirations, on the grounds that the party’s constitution did not say anything in that respect.
“The meeting resolved that those with EFCC cases should go and take the risk at the convention. They were allowed to test their popularity before the delegates,” he said.
He also revealed that all the chairmanship aspirants were to sign a pact today at the party’s national secretariat, in Abuja, ahead of the convention.
In a communiqué issued yesterday, Governor Fayose said all the aspirants agreed to work together, adding that the meeting was aimed at fashioning out a way for the party to have a successful convention.
‎The eight contenders for the office of PDP national chairman, present at the meeting, were a former Minister of Sports and Special Duties; Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, ex-Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; Ex-governor of Ogun State, Otumba Gbenga Daniel; Ex-governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja; Ex-PDP Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
Others were Ex-PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George; Ex-governorship candidate in Lagos State Jimi Agbaje and Chief Raymond Dokpesi.