The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has reacted to the emergence of a new faction of the party.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday in Abuja shortly after the new faction was unveiled in the nation’s capital, Mr Secondus blamed the deployment on some people who he said were trying to distract the party.
The PDP has been embroiled in a leadership crisis since it lost power at the centre in 2015, with two factions led by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and a National Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.
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After a legal battle which lasted more than 13 months, the Supreme Court intervene in the crisis. The apex court sacked Sheriff as the party’s chairman and asked Makarfi’s committee to take over the PDP leadership.
All appeared to be going on smoothly in the administration of the party and among party faithful, leading to the return of one of its founding fathers and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, another tussle surfaced within the PDP after the party conducted its national convention which saw Secondus emerged the new national chairman of the party.
The faction of the party which was unveiled on December 20 seems not to be unconnected with the fact that some members were aggrieved with the results of the December 9 convention.
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Secondus told reporters that the faction was the work of some elements of ‘distractions’.
“We are focused, we know the enemy is at work, we know several things have been going on. People predicted that our convention will not be successful and at the end of the day it was successful – so, they are not happy,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondinyan, also issued a statement in which he described the faction as a funny piece of some individuals.
He said: “The PDP is completely unperturbed by the comical act of some individuals who make outlandish claims in the media regarding our party. The fact is that we are happy with the efforts of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led Reconciliation Committee, as well as the responses from all the respectable and responsible leaders of our party in that regard.
“We will, however, not be responsible or respond to any person or groups of individuals who decide to allow themselves to be used by forces from another political party in a laughable and childish attempt to distract us,” he added.
Ologbondinyan said the PDP under Secondus’ leadership would continue to focus on repositioning the party to be the formidable opposition that would guarantee checks and balances as well as regain power from the APC in 2019.
