For Secondus to Succeed

The expectation of many members of the Peoples Democratic Party is that no matter the disagreement arising from the national convention, the interest of party should be paramount, writes Davidson Iriekpen

It is longer news that a former acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has emerged as the new chairman of the party. Secondus defeated all the aspirants who contested the coveted position with him last weekend in Abuja.

The chairman of the electoral committee of the convention, and former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, who announced the results, said the new chairman scored a total of 2,000 votes out of the total number of 2,296 votes cast. He was followed by a former Minister of Education, Tunde Adeniran, who scored a total vote of 231 votes, while the duo of Raymond Dokpesi and Taoheed Adedoja scored 66 and 0 votes respectively.

Secondus was said to have received strong backing of the 11 governors elected on the platform of the party. A member of the party from the north said “the northern caucus apart from Prof. Jerry Gana and Senator Ibrahim Mantu decided to support Secondus because he was the toast of the governors and the majority members of the party.”

Those who contested against him but lost were Dokpesi, Adeniran and Adedoja. Others contestants, apart from Chief Olabode George, announced their withdrawal from the race shortly before the commencement of the exercise. George said last Friday at a press briefing that he was withdrawing due to the refusal of the party to micro-zone the office of the national chairman to the South-west.

The party had zoned the office to the entire southern part of the country, while it also ceded the presidential ticket to the northern region.
However, while there were seven aspirants from the South-west zone, only two showed interest from the South-south.
Others from the South-west included Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Chief Gbenga Daniel, Mr. Jimi Agbaje and Aderemi Olusegun. All the aspirants except Ladoja, Dokpesi and Secondus eventually contested the election.

Before voting commenced, Dokpesi and Adeniran had protested, saying the processes were skewed against them, but in favour of Secondus. Dokpesi told journalists covering the convention that he complained about the circulation of a document referred to as “unity list” to delegates asking them to vote for the people on the list. He said the chairman of the electoral sub-committee of the convention, Suswam, told him that there was nothing he could do about his complaint.
On his part, Adeniran, through his spokesperson, Akeju, called for the cancellation of the entire exercise because it was compromised.

He said: “We reject the entire electoral process of December 9, 2017. The election was grossly compromised to achieve a pre-determined end in line with the illegal ‘unity list’ prepared by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose and foisted on the entire delegates. Consequently, we submit that this election is a sham and its result is unacceptable. We reject it in its entirety. We consider this so-called election as a travesty of democracy and due process, which further entrenches the culture of impunity that has done a great damage to the party in the past.”

The questions many observers are asking are: Among the aspirants, is Secondus the best? Would a South-west candidate have helped the party?
While many party faithful in the South-west had urged stakeholders to ensure a candidate from the region emerge as the national chairman for the first time to avoid the death of the party in the zone, others felt that since the position was zoned to the entire south, it was proper to allow others to contest especially since the South-south and South-east which have more states. They felt that the party needs a zone where it is very strong and where there is no crisis and later woo the South-west with political appointments.

Many analysts have wondered if Bode George would have been able to win Lagos or any part of the South-west for the party in 2019. Or can Gbenga Daniel win Ogun State? Even Adeniran who was in the race, did not get the blessing of his governor, Fayose who has already declared for the presidency, thereby messing up his chances.

This fact, was alluded to by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who attempted to analyse the true permutation of the party while giving reasons for his support for Secondus.

Wike in a statement issued by his special assistant on electronic media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, said Secondus was the only candidate from a state governed by the PDP; a statement apparently made in recognition of the fact that Rivers state is in full control of the PDP, while in Ekiti State, a PDP-governed state where Adeniran hails from, Governor Ayo Fayose, whose tenure ends in 2018, is even now presently embroiled in his own presidential campaign bid, prosecuted against the backdrop of a bitter succession battle which has already reportedly pitched him against some powerful interests in the party.

Wike, who confirmed that he also resigned his membership of the National Convention Planning Committee because he wanted to focus on the campaign for the emergence of Secondus as national chairman, extolled the virtues of Secondus, describing him as a decent, scandal-free and loyal party man, who would build bridges of unity across all the divides of the PDP.
“Secondus has never said anything negative against any other candidate. He has remained focused on his campaign. He has no existing problems with the EFCC contrary to petitions against him. Somebody who believes that he will win, will not resort to writing petitions before the convention. All reports in the media against Secondus are planted and false,” Wike said emphatically.

Wike equally noted that while all the zones were relevant in the rebuilding process of the party, the South-south zone remains the bedrock of the PDP, even as he highlighted the conflicts of ego and interests in the other zones, especially the South-west, as key factors that will and has continued to undermine their contributions to the growth of the PDP.

“National Chairmanship in the South-west will not change the fortunes of the PDP. Even when the president hailed from the South-west, the fortunes of the party did not improve in terms of votes in that zone. The zone is prone to incessant crises as can be seen. Any candidate who emerges from the South-west will lead to further crisis from other factions from that zone.

“Only a candidate from outside the South-west such as Secondus can unite the zone. He has the reach and capacity to unite all factions in the South-west. He is the person suited for the party at this time. After the convention, PDP will come out stronger. It will come out refreshed and re-positioned for the good of the country,” Wike enthused.

The Rivers State governor also spoke on the issue of micro zoning the chairmanship, which had been mooted and had favoured the South-west in the earlier botched conventions, noting that events had already overtaken that arrangement, the decision of the party to zone the chairmanship to the south and presidency to the north still stood and superseded all other considerations.

Wike gave the analysis thus: “The issue of micro-zoning and gentleman’s agreement does not arise. There is nothing like that. The so-called micro-zoning is being floated by a presidential aspirant from the north supported by the campaign officials of Adeniran. The 2019 presidential ticket was zoned to the north while the party’s national chairmanship was zoned to the South,” he said with clear emphasis.

He further alleged that some PDP national chairmanship aspirants had resorted to blackmail, simply because they have lost the support of the delegates.
“Anybody who believes in PDP will work for the party after the national convention, whether or not you emerge. You will do otherwise when you are controlled by external forces. No right thinking party member will resort to issuance of threats,” he noted.

Corroborating Wike’s position, a group in the South-west, Oodua PDP Alliance, described Secondus as the best man for the job. It said the Rivers State politician as “tested, experienced and competent to lead the party. In a statement signed by the leader of the group who is also a leader of PDP in Osun State, Hon Hakeem Ogunsola, the group affirmed that South-west has proved its unpreparedness for the party leadership, affirming that Secondus was best for the job at this stage.

“How can you hope to lead the party when your zone is not a stronghold of the PDP? How can you even be taken seriously when many of your aspirants carry heavy baggage? We don’t want party chairman in South-west. Secondus has party leadership experience nobody can rival. He has the boldness, the national recognition, the will and the passion to pilot the affairs of the party. He is the best to lead the party at this critical times,” the statement concluded.

With the convention over, many members of the party feel that for Secondus to succeed, he has to make good his promise of reaching to all those who are aggrieved individually and collectively for the party to move forward, adding that a house divided against itself cannot stand. They also submitted that no matter the disagreement, the expectation is that the party weans itself off internal wrangling and be in a position to play its role as a viable opposition party in the country.

Incidentally, one of the candidates in the election, Dokpesi, has congratulated Secondus, which to many observers, is a good example of his sportsmanship. The ball is now in the new chairman’s court to bring all aggrieved members of the party under its umbrella in order to pursue its agenda of taking power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.

For Fayose, all those who contested the election and lost should accept defeat in good faith. He said: “Anyone who will contest the result of this election at the court of law is an enemy of the party. It is not good to be a bad loser. If you did not win, just take it in good faith and support the winner”

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Many analysts have wondered if Bode George would have been able to win Lagos or any part of the South-west for the party in 2019.