From: TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has dismissed the allegation in some quarters, that Governor Nyesom Wike has been lobbying for Prince Uche Secondus, to emerge as national chairman of the party.
State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, debunked the allegation, on Thursday, while addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, ahead of the December 9, national convention of PDP.
Nwanosike noted that Prince Secondus, who is one of the aspirants, did not need anybody to lobby for him because of his experience. He claimed that ‘those who believe in the ‘old order’ as being behind the allegation.
He asked: “How would you bring Governor Nyesom Wike in the matter? Will he be the one to decide who the delegates from all parts of the country will vote for? No, that is not correct. The allegation is not correct.
“The truth of the matter is that, the people you are seeing that are playing dirty, are throwing names. They are trying to play the old pattern. They have a pattern. They are people from the old brigade, who believe that there must be a consensus candidate, where they would say all is well.
“PDP is a political party that is trying to organize itself again. We will not go back to the days of impunity. You heard the former Vice President (Atiku Abubakar), said he left APC because the party is entrenched in impunity and impunity measures.
“We, having lost the 2015 presidential election, and knowing the pressure that has brought to us as a political party, cannot go back to that old order. On December 9, everybody should go and canvass for votes. It does not matter what anybody says. And all the aspirants have said after the election, they will support whoever emerges as chairman and build a formidable party.
“In fact, what the delegates are looking out for now, is a person who has a clean record. You must put a man with integrity; you must put a man that has the ability to carry everybody along. You must put a man that has the patience to listen to everybody. You must put a man that has the ability to build a PDP that belongs to everybody. We don’t want a man, who believes that he is a godfather and he is the one that built PDP in 1999. We have passed that era”, Nwanosike stated.
The Rivers State PDP spokesman also stressed: “So, Uche Secondus, who is from Rivers State, as far as we are concerned, governed PDP in Rivers State very well. He managed our party so well that gave him the permission of party to be at the South-South level. He was a former Organising Secretary of the party.
“Those, who monitored his activities would testify of his capacity as the Organising Secretary of the party. He has been Deputy National Chairman of the party; he was even the acting National Chairman of the party. He tried to make sure our party did not go into oblivion after we lost the 2015 presidential election. That is the man we will stand for.
“Prince Uche Secondus is busy going from one State to the other. You must sell yourself. Listen, the PDP we have today, is a brand new PDP. The PDP in the past, where people sat down and gave consensus, has gone. That era is gone.
“With the misrule of APC, Nigerians are yearning for a political party that guarantees them a positive change than what we are experiencing today. Nigerians want a capacity chairman. So, Uche Secondus is selling himself and does not need anybody lobbying for him”.
He, however, added that the recent endorsement of Governor Wike for second term by the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, was a testimony of the track records of the governor.