We can’t stop other contenders-Party leaders
* Bode George pulls out

The die is cast as the leading opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) holds its national convention today at the Eagle Square, Abuja to elect a new set of leaders who will direct the affairs of the party towards the 2019 general elections. Pundits say only a transparent and credible convention would guarantee the survival of the party and its return to power in 2019.
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Some governors on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are in a final push for Prince Uche Secondus to emerge as national chairman at the party’s national convention holding today in Abuja.
Secondus was deputy national chairman during the reign of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and became acting national chairman when Mu’azu threw in the towel on May 20, 2015.
Credible sources in the party said the governors led by Governor Nyesom Wike are insisting that Secondus, who is from Rivers State, returns as chairman while the vice presidential ticket should go to either the Southeast or Southwest.
A party leader close to one of the aspirants told our correspondent yesterday that Wike and his men were visiting some chairmanship contenders, pleading with them to step down for his anointed one.
He said the “powerful team” was also visiting some founding fathers and delegates to the convention to pave way for Secondus to win the race.
“Some governors are still scheming on how to field Secondus as their candidate at the convention. That, I can confirm to you on authority,” he said.
But presenting the list of delegates to the chairmanship aspirants yesterday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, the chairman of the convention planning committee and governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, said the convention would reflect the will of delegates.
“We had a successful meeting with the nine aspirants for the office of national chairman and we briefed them on the electoral process. We want to deliver a convention that is transparent and credible,” he said.
In adition, other party leaders including former President Goodluck Jonathan say they have no prefered candidate.
Concrete arrangements for hitch-free event
Today’s convention will produce new PDP National Working Committee (NWC) members after the Supreme Court saved the party from the prolonged leadership tussle between Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, told Daily Trust that all arrangements had been put in place to ensure a successful convention today.
Prince Adeyeye said over 2,800 delegates would exercise their franchise at the convention. He said security arrangements for the event were being handled by people with considerable experience on security matters.
He added that the PDP does not anticipate any problem because all the security agencies contacted were working with the party.
“All the arrangements are in place, the security arrangements and the issues regarding the materials for the convention.
This is the first time we will be having a real contest for the various offices of any political party in Nigeria to win elections. I have not seen any political party in the history of this country where people campaign for a party office the way we have witnessed in the PDP today.
Strict accreditation, strict warning
Adeyeye added: “Accreditation is strictly controlled because we don’t want the number of those who have nothing to do to overwhelm those who are going to do the real voting. If you have nothing to do, please, do not come near, otherwise, you will embarrass yourself. Our members should be rest assured that their lives and property would be protected,” he said.
The chairman of the Convention Planning Committee and Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, told newsmen at the end of their meeting in Abuja a few days ago that all arrangements had been concluded for today’s convention.
Okowa said the committee would not allow any presidential, governorship or any aspirant to use the convention venue to display campaign posters or banners.
The chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Senator Makarfi, had also said that the committee would not allow the list of delegates to the national convention to be “bastardised”.
Speaking at the 2017 National Convention of the PDP National Professionals and Business Group in Abuja, Makarfi said the caretaker committee would ensure a transparent process.
Ferocious battle for chairmanship seat
There are fears in many circles within the party on the possibility of a fresh crisis following the latest interest of the South-south geo-political zone to grab the national chairmanship position from the Southwest. Key stakeholders from the Southwest have warned of consequences if the position earlier zoned to their region based on the 2016 controversial convention, is taken to another zone.
On Wednesday, the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Buruji Kashamu, warned members and the leadership of the PDP against shutting out the Southwest from producing the next national chairman of the party.
Kashamu warned that such an action would turn the PDP into a regional party. He implored the PDP chieftains to move against the attempt by some people to stop the Southwest from getting the chairmanship position which had been zoned to it before the botched Port Harcourt convention.
Kashamu, in a statement issued ahead of the national convention, said the attempt to frustrate the zoning arrangement entrenched in the party’s constitution might reduce the PDP to a regional party.
He said: “If those trying to scheme out the Southwest succeed in their effort, the zone would be rendered irrelevant in the PDP. Without prejudice to anybody’s right to contest, irrespective of the established zoning arrangements, it is an open secret that the PDP national chairmanship had been conceded to the Southwest pre-Port Harcourt convention.
“As a consequence of this, other positions zoned to the Southwest are innocuous deputies to substantive offices except the National Treasurer. Even the Deputy National Secretary that is a member of the National Working Committee is not included. All these are because of the vital national chairmanship already conceded to the Southwest. In fact, if elections were to hold then, a particular promising young politician from Lagos, Southwest could have won.”
He added: “If a consensual stand is to be changed, it is only reasonable and fair that a new all-inclusive stakeholders’ meeting be called, where necessary re-zoning of key party posts from the South would be discussed to enable the national chairmanship become open to all the southern zones. Similarly, the previously held consensus of the vice-president coming from the Southeast in 2019 would accordingly be revoked for all southern zones including the Southwest to contend as it is happening now.”
He called on the Southeast to support the Southwest fight the injustice, saying, “The PDP Southeast needs to be categorical now in support of the Southwest on the ongoing national chairmanship tussle between the Southwest and the Southsouth.”
He added, “The logical implication of this avoidable tussle is to make uncertain, the settled Southeast vice-presidential quest in 2019. If the Southeast expectedly takes a principled stance in rightful support of the Southwest, naturally as a reliable race in adherence to agreements, the Yoruba PDP would reciprocate without any prompting. What is currently happening is glaringly an orchestrated assault on the Southwest to end up with nothing in 2019, with the disgusting connivance of the national party administrators. This is a dangerously illogical political permutation for the 2019 national elections.”
Chairmanship contenders
Eight aspirants earlier indicated interest for the coveted office. They include a former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, a former governor of Ogun State Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of Oyo State Rashidi Ladoja, a former Lagos State PDP governorship candidate Jimi Agbaje.
Others are broadcast mogul Chief Raymond Dokpesi, a former Minister of Education Prof. Tunde Adeniran, a former acting national chairman Prince Uche Secondus and a former deputy national chairman Chief Bode George later withdrew late last night.
However, a 44-year-old man who announced his takeover of the PDP’s affairs at the peak of the crisis in the party in 2016, Mr. Aderemi Olusegun, also threw himself into the ring penultimate Thursday, bringing the number to 9.
But indications have emerged that it’s a straight battle between Prof. Tunde Adeniran (Southwest) and Prince Uche Secondus (Southsouth).
Credible sources within the party said while the seven other aspirants were not in the equation, there was a sharp division among party stakeholders on who becomes the next helmsman between the two chieftains.
Prof. Tunde Adeniran
Adeniran is an ex-Minister of Education who also served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany. He is currently a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT). He was the Deputy Director General, Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign (2015), Chairman, PDP Presidential Inauguration Committee (1999) and Chairman, Electoral Panel, PDP National Convention (1999).
He was one of those who strongly kicked against the emergence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as PDP national chairman and sustained the courage until Sheriff was ousted by the Supreme Court on July 12, 2017.
Party leaders like former President Goodluck Jonathan, a former Minister of Information Prof. Jerry Gana, a former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu have said he has an in-depth knowledge of the workings and operational philosophy, vision and mission of the PDP’s founding fathers.
The ex-minister is in the good books of the BoT members who see him as man of integrity, considering that he has remained in the party from the formation stage to date without jumping ship at any point.
While Adeniran, a Professor of Political Science, has the backing of the BoT and some governors in the party, inside sources say he also enjoys the support of some former ministers and other stakeholders.
Odds against Adeniran
But pundits say though he enjoys this massive good will, he is being rumoured to have been sponsored by Senator Kashamu, who was an ardent supporter of Senator Sheriff at the peak of the leadership crisis in the party.
But his Campaign Director General, Alhaji Shehu Gabam, refuted this claim when contacted for comments on the issue by Daily Trust, saying the allegation was baseless, without substance and meant to blackmail his principal.
Gabam argued that Gana, Mantu and Adeniran were the strongest forces against Sheriff’s emergence as chairman, insisting that if Buruji who was in Sheriff’s camp was financing Adeniran’s campaign, the two top politicians wouldn’t have backed him on that ground.
Most PDP leaders who started with the party since its emergence in 1998 have said the key to opening the party’s fortunes and ending impunity lies with Adeniran.
However, the governor of his home state of Ekiti, Ayo Fayose, seems to be having an agenda of supporting an aspirant from another zone.
Prince Uche Secondus
Uche Secondus, a Southsouth politician from Rivers State, was the Deputy National Chairman of the party during the reign of the former governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.
He became the acting national chairman in May 2015 when Mu’azu threw in the towel following the party’s defeat at the 2015 general elections.
Secondus’s reign as acting chairman was characterised by a legal suit instituted by an aide to former president Jonathan, Barr. Ahmed Gulak, who challenged his sit-tight posture.
He was later removed from office by a High Court judgment which ruled that his acting role had elapsed.
Pundits say his entrance into the race has altered the equation and the general belief that the next national chairman would come from the Southwest.
The Southwest, party stalwarts argue, is the only zone that has not produced a chairman since the party’s inception, Therefore, chieftains from the zone are agitating for the mandate this time.
However, there are also feelers among the chairmanship contestants and party members that Secondus might emerge as the next PDP boss because of the role some governors are currently playing in the party.
Odds against Secondus
Insiders, however, say Secondus’ emergence would spark-off another crisis except if the Southwest is appeased with the party’s 2019 vice presidential ticket.
The alleged move by some governors of the party to force other chairmanship contenders out of the race in favour of Secondus suffered a setback at a recent meeting of party stakeholders held in Enugu.
Meeting of PDP governors
PDP governors and other critical stakeholders of the party including the Board of Trustees (BoT) members, former governors and ex-ministers, had met in Enugu to prepare grounds for today’s convention.
Sources at the meeting which lasted several hours told our correspondent that Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) insisted that other aspirants should step down for Secondus.
One of the stakeholders from the South-west told Daily Trust that the move by Fayose and Wike to make Secondus a sole candidate for the office of chairman however hit the rocks following stiff resistance from other 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.
Similarly, the Director General of Adeniran Campaign Organisation, Alhaji Gabam recently at a press conference, accused the Senator Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of giving an undue advantage to Secondus in the composition of the ad-hoc committees constituted to conduct the congresses that would produce delegates.
“A particular state has members in that list and some of them are the leading campaigners for Secondus. We as members of a campaign organization were not consulted to bring one or two persons and I am sure other aspirants were not consulted too. So, we found it very funny and realized that the spirit behind the signing of the MOU was not respected by the party itself, not the aspirants. This is not a very good spirit. This is not a good leadership.
“Now, you have just one chairmanship aspirant having his men deeply entrenched in a system that would determine how the delegates will emerge. This is an indirect way of short-changing other aspirants and this is not good for the party,” Gabam said.
Otunba Gbenga Daniel
Otunba Gbenga Daniel was governor of Ogun State between 2003 and 2011. Daniel, popularly called OGD, is not a pushover in the race. If the winner of the position will only be determined aggressiveness of campaigns, Daniel will grab the seat because he began his movement across the country early and has met key stakeholders of the party. In fact, Daniel received a warm reception from the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, when his campaign entourage paid him a visit in continuation of the nationwide consultation before today’s convention.
The former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, was said to have assured Otunba Daniel of his support. Bafarawa was said to have deliberately decided to wait and receive the entourage in Sokoto when he learnt that Daniel chose to start his campaign there. However, the minus to his candidacy is the alleged corruption case with the anti-graft agency.
Bode Geroge pulls out
Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) last night withdrew from the chairmanship race ahead of today’s convention.
George told newsmen in Abuja that he was not stepping down for any aspirant but because of the wrongs in the party.
He said, “It appears that PDP is now based on self-destruction, the party has lost its soul. I cannot be part of this criminal aberration. There is no morality or sanity.”
When asked whether he was stepping down for any of the aspirants, George said, “I hereby withdraw from this chairmanship race. I, Olabode George, won’t step down for anybody. I am stepping down because of the wrongs in the party.”
He added, “I am withdrawing purely on principle.” He explained that the Yorubas had been humiliated by the PDP and asked Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to apologise to the south-west for “reigning insult” on the Yorubas.
He said if the PDP “corrects the evils and makes the necessary amendments, he would remain in the party but declined to speak expressly on the next move if the party does not correct “the wrongs.”
Earlier, Chief Bode George, through his Campaign Director General, Ibrahim Aliyu recently called for the resignation of the Senator Makarfi-led caretaker committee.
This perhaps was when he saw the signs that he was being schemed out of the equation. According to him, the caretaker committee is no longer transparent in the build up to the convention and could not be trusted.
The PDP 77th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of penultimate Thursday, however, cautioned against any form of attack on the Makarfi-led caretaker committee and hate speech among the contestants.
Words of caution from IBB, Mark
Former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.), enjoined delegates to elect a man of competence as the next chairman of the PDP.
In a press statement issued by his media aide, Prince Kassim Afegbua, Babangida said the PDP needed a national chairman who is driven by uncommon initiatives, creativity in ideas and a rich content of character to lead and stabilize the party in line with the laudable ideals of the founding fathers of the party. He cautioned against “the monetization of electoral process”.
“In the last few days, I get frightened by the monetary consideration that is likely to dictate who emerges as the national chairman of our great party rather than what the people truly want. This approach, in my humble view, defeats the whole essence of participation, free choice and voting which are the essential attributes of any democracy without inducement and outright manipulation. I wish to plead that we tread on the path of caution and common sense, conscious of our recent history of avoidable political crisis.”
A former Senate President, David Mark, also urged the party faithful to shun ills such as imposition of candidates and impunity that ruined the chances of the party in previous elections.
In a message to the delegates, Mark urged the delegates to right the wrongs of the party’s past by allowing the will of the people to prevail at the elective gathering.

 

Source: Daily Trust