Courts’ rulings: PDP BoT summons emergency meeting

TO forestall further crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following the sack of its acting national chairman, Chief Uche Sec­ondus by a court in Abuja on Tuesday, the Board of Trustees (BoT) is set to meet tomorrow.

A top member of the PDP, who declined to be named, told Daily Sun that the Friday BoT meeting is at the instance of ma­jor stakeholders especially foundation members of the party.

Two days ago, an Abuja court presided by Justice Hussein Baba, ordered Sec­ondus to vacate the PDP chairman’s seat within 14 days.

Daily Sun investigation revealed that following the decision of the court; the PDP members agreed the BoT should meet tomorrow as a matter of urgency to save the party from further damage.

The source said conve­ners of the meeting are unit­ed on the need to quickly bring on board a new lead­ership with the capacity and freshness to ride the storm facing the PDP.

His words: “Look at what is happening to PDP in Bayelsa, Kogi, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and all over Nigeria. Apart from what PDP elected governors are facing, see what is happen­ing to our National Assem­bly members. The PDP is facing challenges in many quarters.

“There is need for a new leadership. Major stake­holders believe that there is an urgent need to unite party members to work as a formidable platform and opposition party.”

Regardless, the source said some members of the National Working Commit­tee (NWC) of the party are not favourably disposed to the Friday meeting and are doing everything to scuttle the move.

He said the NWC mem­bers are working frantically to scuttle the meeting and find a leeway for Secondus to continue in office until the party’s national conven­tion in February.

The Friday meeting, he said, is to ensure that the embattled party complies with the court order so as not to be viewed as a law­less platform.

Investigation by Daily Sun also revealed that most of the people who will be in the meeting are already in Abuja following text mes­sages by the Secretary of the PDP BoT, Walid Jibrin.

But even last night, it was learnt, some top members of NEC made fruitless ef­forts to prevail on the BOT to call off the meeting.

The former special ad­viser to former president Goodluck Jonathan on Po­litical Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak recently filed a suit asking the court to sack Secondus because by the provision of the PDP Con­stitution and its zoning prin­ciple, the position of the chairman should be occu­pied by somebody from the North-East of the country.