PDP crisis: Wike intensifies Cold War against Atiku, insists on resignation of Secondus

There are emerging indicators that the internal crisis ravaging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a well-thought-out political battle by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to wage Cold War against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the buildup to the 2023 presidential ticket of the PDP. The Rivers governor who appeared invisible at the early stage of the leadership crisis wherein 7 members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) led by Prince Uche Secondus, resigned in one day, demanding the resignation of Secondus as PDP National Chairman, became prominent in the crisis as his political allies took over the agitation and I insisting on the resignation of Secondus. A source from the PDP revealed to National Daily that the heat on Prince Uche Secondus is a covert attack on former Vice President Atiku Ababakar, who is believed to have developed a strong close relationship with the PDP national chairman and other members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

Wike, being relatively emasculated by the intervention of the PDP elders and some other structures of the PDP political machine, had noticeably resorted to other means, including legal instruments, to sustain his struggle for the removal of Secondus as PDP national chairman before the expiration of the NWC tenure.

The party source reiterated that Governor Wike may be battling to dethrone Prince Uche Secondus, an old political ally from Rivers State, to weaken the power bloc of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar towards 2023 presidential race for the PDP ticket.

A PDP source told National Daily that the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, is perceived within the party to have developed ‘tight’ affiliation with Atiku since the 2019 presidential election which Atiku won the PDP ticket in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, but lost the election to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party source also revealed that Governor Wike is a close ally of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State who also participated in the PDP national convention in Port Harcourt but lost the ticket to Atiku, coming second.

Both Atiku and Tambuwal were identified as aspirants for the PDP ticket for the 2023 presidential election. Governor Wike is widely perceived to be aspiring for the PDP vice presidential ticket, to pair Tambuwal for the 2023 presidential race on the platform of the PDP. The arrangement could also be reviewed anti clockwise if the agitation for power shift to the south scales through in the PDP as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has done in zoning the 2023 president to the south. In such an arrangement, Wike is believed to be aspiring for the presidency while Tambuwal could pick the VP ticket. According to our party source, Governor Wike may not be fighting for the dethronement of Secondus as PDP national chairman in the party’s interest but could be scheming towards the 2023 presidential race.

“The dislodgment of Secondus is believed to be the starting point for the dislodgement of Atiku in the PDP towards 2023,” the party source said.

Our source further said that many PDP stakeholders suspect that Atiku may have allegedly offered Secondus an appointment as a director in his chains of businesses with shareholder rights, as a means of consolidating their relationship and being assured of his cooperation. Some other senior members of the NWC were also suspected to be under Atiku’s patronage and influence.

The party source pointed out that the Rivers State governor may also be fighting the Sokoto State governor’s battle, one of the PDP presidential aspirants from the north, to displace Atiku, targeting that dislodging Secondus would be a means to take down the former VP in the PDP. He noted that the week Atiku disclosed that he would commence consultations for the 2023 presidential race was when the crisis broke out in the PDP with the resignation of seven deputy national officers in the NWC, who demanded the resignation of the national chairman, Uche Secondus, accusing him of leadership failure.

At the early stage, Atiku was accused of being behind the PDP crisis. He quickly denied it, appealing for peaceful resolution of the conflicts.

Thereafter, a prominent political ally of Governor Wike, Kingsley Chinda, a member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria’s National Assembly, joined the fray of the war against Secondus. Chinda, claiming leadership of the PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives, led the team of political warlords to roll out a communique, claiming a virtual meeting and resolutions of the PDP House caucus. The communique listed the many ills of Prince Uche Secondus, his leadership failures, and thereafter, ordered Secondus to take the part of honour and quit the office of the PDP National Chairman, compelling him to resign immediately.

Meanwhile, the authentic House of Representatives Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, the real PDP caucus leader, was not part of the meeting, nor was he aware of such a meeting being held. Elumelu, accordingly, issued a counter statement refuting the claimed meeting of PDP House caucus led by Kingsley Chinda, appealing for the intervention of party elders and notable stakeholders for amicable reconciliation of the internal crisis.

The skirmishes permeated the PDP Governors Forum where most governors did not endorse the demand for sudden resignation of Secondus, while few others, including Wike thought otherwise. There was a stalemate at the Governors Forum.

PDP elders, including members of the PDP Board of Trustees led by Senator Walid Jibrin, including former Presidents of the Senate David Mark, Anyim Pius Anyim, and others, intervened and opted for schedule of the PDP National Convention for the election of new party leaders. Two of the seven national officers were said to have rescinded their resignation and returned to the NWC, while five remained adamant, after the appeal of the BoT members and other PDP elders.

Governor Wike, thereafter, came to the fore with a public statement. He argued that the leadership failures of Secondus, including allegations of deviation from the leadership mandate to pursue parochial interests, has not positioned the PDP as a vibrant opposition party. He further alleged that Secondus had ensured the emergence of party leaders across the states to the disadvantage of other PDP leaders.

While the party is still working on an early national convention, the Rivers State High Court sitting in Degema, delivered a judgement in an ex-parte suit brought before it by some PDP members in Rivers, ordering Secondus to desist from parading himself as PDP national chairman.

The Rivers State Governor is suspected by many PDP stakeholders to be working on the outcome of the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt for the 2019 presidential election where Governor Tambuwal who Governor Wike is believed to had supported, came second with a higher votes margin ahead of other aspirants, though trailed behind Atiku with a wide gap. The calculation, according to a party source, could be that Tambuwal may emerge a stronger presidential aspirant in the absence of Atike at the PDP national convention for the election of the 2023 presidential candidate.  Thus, pushing out Uche Secondus was said to be considered one of the means of getting at Atiku, if the PDP insists on the presidential candidate coming from the north.

Meanwhile, Atiku has been watching the entire episode and is not fighting back yet, our party source said. PDP elders and notable stakeholders were said to be currently preoccupied with resolution of the conflict and re-uniting the party.