Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West) declared, Monday, that the embattled National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, cannot be stampeded out of office.
Dickson who made the declaration in a personally signed press statement in Abuja, said only National Convention of the party can remove Secondus as Chairman.
He alleged that the call for Secondus resignation by some members of the party was orchestrated and aimed at throwing the party into needless crisis ahead of the 2023 general elections .
According to him, the purported call made by the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives for Secondus resignation was a ruse as the leader of the caucus, Hon Ndudi Elumelu, had issued a rebuttal.
He admonished those wanting Secondus out of office at all cost to wait for the next national convention of the party, which is just about four months from now, to carry out their plan democratically as any other means, will be null and void, as well as, portend serious crisis for the party.
He added that by absolving the embattled Chairman from the gale of defections that hited the party in recent time, saying, “those calling for Secondus removal, are the ones creating crisis in the party and invariably, creating the opportunity for people to defect from the party.”
The statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to a purported statement by some members of the National Working Committee who went outside the constitution of the party and convened a meeting in a hotel room without the knowledge, consent and presence of the chairman.
“I want to draw the attention of PDP leaders, members and Nigerians at large that the meeting was the action of a few party officers and does not represent a valid resolution or decision of the National Working Committee known to the PDP constitution.
“By the PDP constitution, only the national chairman of the party can summon and preside over meetings of the organs of the party especially the NWC of which he is chairman. So the purported meeting and the outcome therefore are part of the plot to contrive a needless crisis in the PDP.
“It is part of the scheme to call a dog a bad name to hang it. The general public should note that the statement signed by some members: three members of the working committee and three Vice chairmen of the party (as indicated in the press release) does not constitute a valid resolution of the National Working Committee.
“It is all an effort to contrive a crises in the party to further the ulterior objective of those who are funding it, the intent of which is to cause a major crisis in the PDP.
“Secondly, my attention was also drawn to a purported statement by the Reps Caucus. As Nigerians and all PDP leaders know, the minority leader of the Reps is Honorable Ndudi Elumelu not Hon Kingsley Chinda, and members of the House of Representatives caucus have already spoken that they did not hold any such meeting and the Chairman of the caucus Hon Ndudi Elumelu has rightly issued a statement which is in the public domain that he did not summon or preside over such a meeting.
“Therefore, Nigerians should disregard the reported decision of the purported rep caucus meeting.
“All this is to create a media frenzy backed up by the sponsored demonstrations at the party secretariat on Monday which are designed to force the chairman to resign in order to set up a caretaker committee which is illegal.
“Happily, the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, has issued a statement a short while ago that he will not resign. I support this decision fully as it is backed by the PDP constitution.
“Let me also bring to the attention of all that by the PDP constitution, a vote of no confidence even by a duly constituted NWC or other organs of the party does not remove a Chairman. The chairman is voted for and can only be removed by the National Convention unless on his own volition, he chooses to resign. So I call on all leaders of the party that this is perhaps their last effort to save the PDP.
“There is no crisis in the party. What is happening is only a contrived media crisis orchestrated and funded by some people with a motive to hijack the party without subjecting themselves and their cronies to a democratic vote at the convention which is due in less than 4 months.
“This has nothing to do with Secondus performance but a coup against a major democratic institution in Nigeria and must be resisted and stopped by all lovers of democracy and all men of good conscience in Nigeria.
“The decamping of Governors and other leaders is not the fault of Secondus. It happens from time to time in all political parties from 1999 till date. The PDP has received Governors, presiding officers of the National Assembly and other political leaders under secondus and will continue to do so after this crisis. It is these people orchestrating these crisis that have made governors and other leaders to leave the party because of the needless crisis and the toxic political atmosphere created by them within the party.
“I call on the National Chairman to utilize all options and powers available to him under the constitution and to take steps to ensure that no officer or member no matter how highly placed usurps, or impedes the exercise of his rights, powers and duties as national chairman or is allowed to plunge the party into another needless crisis.”
