Convene NEC to select new chairman now or…; Secondus gets 7-day ultimatum

Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has been given a 7-day ultimatum within which to organise a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which would select a substantive National Chairman for the party, or be dragged to court.

A chieftain of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Ohiomah, issuing the order through a law firm, Emeka Mozie and Company, insisted that the party’s NEC should be summoned to select a replacement for the former National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, from the North East geo-political zone.

The notice by the law firm, which described its client as ‘a loyal, committed and concerned PDP member,’ also copied the national officers of the party, including the Chairman and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, BoT, Dr. Bello Mohammed Haliru and Senator Walid Jibril respectively, as well as Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum and Okezie Ikpeazu , the Abia State Governor, accused Secondus of plotting to elongate his tenure as acting National Chairman.

Signed by Emeka Mozie Esq., the notice read in parts: “Instead of abiding by the resolution of the stakeholders to fulfil the conditions prescribed by the constitution especially section 47(6) you have in order to elongate your tenure; albeit illegally, as Acting National Chairman embarked on frivolous projects of National Conference in October; jettisoning the constitutional directives to call NEC meeting for the purpose of selecting a replacement from the North East zone to fill in the vacancy created by the resignation of the former National Chairman.”

According to the notice, the meeting of the BOT in May which Secondus attended, which resolved that he should continue as acting National Chairman till the end of August 2015 had also agreed that he should call a NEC meeting for the purpose of selecting a substantive Chairman from the North East zone.

It noted, however, that “thousands of members of the party” had approached Secondus through different mediums to comply with Section 47(6) of the PDP constitution but he has “refused, failed and or neglected to do so.”

The notice said that Alhaji Ohiomah was concerned that as it stands, the PDP has no National Chairman, stressing that “supervising institutions like INEC may be faced with legal issues likely to be raised by other political parties which may expose the PDP negatively.”

“It is to avoid such embarrassment,” the notice stressed,” that Secondus must comply with the provisions of the party’s constitution or be dragged to court.”