- Ex-Senate whip backs Gulak
- Nigeria sliding into economic, political crisis, says acting chairman
By Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Ahead of the decisive meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday, there are indications that the current members of the National Working Committee (NWC) might ask for extension of their tenure till September next year.
The move by the NWC led by the acting National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus, came just as the former Senate Chief Whip, Rowland Owie, at the weekend, expressed support for the effort of a former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, to effect a leadership change.
As the PDP stakeholders engage in an intriguing battle for the soul of the party, THISDAY gathered that the NWC members who are vehemently opposed to the plot by Gulak and his group to upstage them are not leaving anything to chance.
A reliable party source told THISDAY yesterday that the current leadership is pushing an arrangement that may see them prolong their tenure along with a new chairman that will emerge from the North-east this week.
There are also strong indications that the party may likely settle for a former Speaker in the then Gongola State House of Assembly, Mr. Wilberforce Jatau, as the substantive national chairman during the NEC meeting.
A reliable party source told THISDAY yesterday that the current leadership is pushing an arrangement that may see them prolong their tenure along with a new chairman that will emerge from the North-east this week.
There are also strong indications that the party may likely settle for a former Speaker in the then Gongola State House of Assembly, Mr. Wilberforce Jatau, as the substantive national chairman during the NEC meeting.
However, quoting one of the NWC members, the source said that based on the fact that this set of NWC leadership were forced to step down and re-contest for their positions sometime in 2013 by INEC, the actual expiration of their tenure should be September 2017 and not March this year.
“What may likely play out on Wednesday is that the PDP NEC may endorse the idea of the new chairman going ahead to work with the current NWC members till next year to ensure that the party regains stability,” he said.
According to the party, key NWC members who are behind this argument are enlisting the support of the governors to achieve their aim which they see as a win-win situation for the state chief executives who are interested in retaining control of the party structure ahead of the 2019 elections.
According to the party, key NWC members who are behind this argument are enlisting the support of the governors to achieve their aim which they see as a win-win situation for the state chief executives who are interested in retaining control of the party structure ahead of the 2019 elections.
The advice is coming with about 72 hours to the emergence of a new chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The party has been enmeshed in leadership crisis, with court litigations which culminated in Gulak recently storming the party’s secretariat to assume it’s chairmanship.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP and a former Senate Chief Whip has asked every member of the party to support Gulak to finish the term of the North-east as national chairman.
He challenged the national leaders of PDP to talk less and “stop behaving like a widow who was trying to marry the driver of her late husband.”
The party has been enmeshed in leadership crisis, with court litigations which culminated in Gulak recently storming the party’s secretariat to assume it’s chairmanship.
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP and a former Senate Chief Whip has asked every member of the party to support Gulak to finish the term of the North-east as national chairman.
He challenged the national leaders of PDP to talk less and “stop behaving like a widow who was trying to marry the driver of her late husband.”
Speaking with journalists yesterday in Abuja, Owie, a leader of the party from Edo State said Gulak should be allowed to reap where he has sown, making reference to his court action which ordered Secondus to quit.
He said:” If Gulak did nothing at all, he has woken up for the elders and leaders of the PDP in the North-east. They were sleeping until Gulak woke them up. Where were they for the 11 months that Uche Secondus occupied the position of national chairman of the party until Gulak acted?
“They should know that power, anywhere in the world, is never donated.
You work for it. I urge every PDP member to support Gulak to finish the term of the North-east of our national chairmanship position so that we can start a full reorganisation of the PDP.
He said:” If Gulak did nothing at all, he has woken up for the elders and leaders of the PDP in the North-east. They were sleeping until Gulak woke them up. Where were they for the 11 months that Uche Secondus occupied the position of national chairman of the party until Gulak acted?
“They should know that power, anywhere in the world, is never donated.
You work for it. I urge every PDP member to support Gulak to finish the term of the North-east of our national chairmanship position so that we can start a full reorganisation of the PDP.
“What I am saying is that for the past 11 months, when Secondus started acting, all the North-east leaders from where the former chairman, Adamu Muazu, came from, where have they been? The fact remains that Gulak went to court and they woke up.
“When men of truth keep quiet, the society will die and get rotten. We should face the truth both in private and in public. If power cannot be donated, Gukak has moved into it and has gotten judgment at the court.
“When men of truth keep quiet, the society will die and get rotten. We should face the truth both in private and in public. If power cannot be donated, Gukak has moved into it and has gotten judgment at the court.
“All what all of us need to do is to give him support as acting chairman of PDP, use the opportunity to reorganise the party and start up. By the time it is done, the PDP can officially zone power to where they want the national chairman to come from. Gulak’s entrance is just an interim measure to stabilise the party. Let justice be done, thereafter there will be a new national convention. With Gulak there, we will now sit down, the party will look at all the problems.
“Let there be order, we are not saying Gulak is the best, but having secured victory in court which nobody did, the young man did it. So let him take up the acting chairmanship for a period. Then, all hands will be on deck, we will do the convention to decide the next line of action.
Owie expressed confidence that if the PDP is able to get its acts together by effecting correct leadership change, then the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not last beyond 2019.
In another development, the acting National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus has said that Nigeria is dangerously sliding into more economic and political distress.
He said that there was the need for the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government to genuinely engage Nigerians as a means of achieving peace and development.
In another development, the acting National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus has said that Nigeria is dangerously sliding into more economic and political distress.
He said that there was the need for the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government to genuinely engage Nigerians as a means of achieving peace and development.
Secondus who made the charge while speaking at the thanksgiving and reception of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in PortHarcourt, Rivers State capital yesterday also stated that the ruling APC should address series of disturbing challenges in the land and stop abusing the Nigerian Judiciary because it did not go their way.
He noted that when the APC took over power from the PDP seven months ago, the Naira was exchanging for N160 to one dollar but noted that currently, the Naira has suddenly dipped to N300 for a dollar under the APC government.
The PDP leader charged the APC to face reality and engage the various stakeholders, including business and political leaders to find a way out instead grandstanding that all is well.
The PDP leader charged the APC to face reality and engage the various stakeholders, including business and political leaders to find a way out instead grandstanding that all is well.
Secondus also described as dangerous to the polity, the continued abuse of judiciary and the use of military and other security agencies in purely political matters.
According to him, it had become vivid to all political watchers that the PDP, even in opposition, remains the largest party in Africa, adding that “not even the harassment and persecution of its leaders would stop the party from providing a robust and constructive opposition.”
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