Simmering tension over the continued stay in office of Uche Secondus led National Working Committee of Nigeria’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party seem to be gradually boiling to the top with the resignation of seven members of the body on Tuesday.
PDP’s National Organising Secretary, Col. Austin Akobundu (retd), confirmed the resignations.
But he said those who resigned were deputies not the substantial heads of the departments.
He declined to give further details.
But it was learnt that the seven members of the NWC, in their different letters to NWC, claimed the Secondus has failed to carry them along in the affairs and management of the party.
It was learnt that some of the executive members who dropped the resignation letter include the National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi; Deputy National Organising Secretary, Hassan Yakubu; and the Deputy National Woman Leader, Hadizat Umoru.
They also accused the Secondus led NWC of lack of accountability.
Kasim Afegbua, a former spokesperson of the party’s presidential Campaign had also accused the Secondus led NWC of lack of accountability in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in April this year.
Afegbua had asked the anti-graft agencies to probe financial transactions of the PDP NWC in the spirit of transparency, accountability, and book-keeping, in line with the existing anti-corruption laws.
Specifically, he had asked the anti-graft agencies to probe how the NWC spent the about N10 billion realized from sales of nomination forms for presidential, governorship, House of Assembly, and senatorial elections.
He had claimed in the petition that Secondus used one Morufu Nigeria Limited to receive the funds generated from the sales of the forms instead of PDP’s account.
But it was gathered that the crisis may be due to the bid by a group within the party led by Governor Nyesom Wike to oust the Secondus led NWC of the party.
The Rivers State Governor is one of the major financiers of the party and as such, he exercises a lot of influence on its affairs.
Wike had accused Secondus of ineffectiveness and once accused the PDP Chairman of lying.
Wike, at the recent 60th birthday party of former Cross River State Governor, descended on the PDP Chairman, describing him as a serial liar and one that could not be taken for his words.
Secondus had spoken and hurriedly left the event before Wike took to the podium
He added that Secondus was fond of talking from both sides of his mouth and blamed him for the current woes in the party.
“Talking about leadership, unfortunately, the National Chairman (Secondus) left before I start. We should not be theoretical but be practical in what we practice.
“He goes to the church, you see the pastor, you pontificate him. He leaves the church, he does a different thing. What is the problem with this country: it’s leadership.
“If he (Secondus) had shown leadership in Cross River, our party would not have had the problem we have today.
“The National Chairman said we need good leadership in the country, but if you don’t show good leadership, the party cannot produce good leaders. That is the truth of the matter.
“We talk about character. What is leadership? Leadership is about character, boldness, selflessness and audacity.
“As a leader, you must have character. Not to speak white in the morning and you speak black in the evening. Is that leadership? What are we telling our youths? We are talking about the future of this country.
“How many of us have been bold to speak out for our party? Those who are bold, those who are fair, those who have characters, do you want them to exist? Certainly not.
“Leadership is that you must decide whether to stand for the truth or not. You must decide whether to do the right thing or not. Leadership is the ability to say the decision I took was wrong and I have accepted that I was wrong and now I am in the position to correct it.
“There is nothing wrong with you admitting that you are wrong. That is one quality of a leader. To be able to identify, when he is wrong.
“As the head of a family, you see crisis in your family, you take a decision that will keep that family together. Leadership is all about sacrifice.
“You put your ego down for the interest of the family. That is leadership. All the leaders, who are here should show good leadership.”
However, Wike denied that he is a lair in response to the allegations.
It was gathered that the Governor of Benue State had also tried to reconcile Wike and Secondus at a recent meeting in Markurdi without success.
There are fears that Secondus may be forced out of office in the next few days as PDP prepares for the 2023 general election if Wike is able to secure the support of other governors.
*Updated