By James Orji
Former Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state does not always agree with Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state, but the squabbles in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP over plans by some members of the party to oust the Chairman, Uche Secondus may have further driven a wedge between them.
Dickson, now a senator of the federal republic is one of those that have openly stuck out his neck out for the embattled chairman despite the groundswell of pressure being mounted on him to step aside.
This is, however, contrary to subterranean move of Governor Wike, which the magazine learnt, is the unseen hand behind the problem facing Secondus who has insisted that he will not be pushed out of the prime position unceremoniously.
Governor Wike and PDP National Chairman, before they finally parted ways, were allies until politics in the PDP set them apart. The gulf between them is now as wide as the years they were together as buddies.
But the PDP boss, who has insisted he will not leave office until December when his tenure is expected to expire, is now getting support from an unusual quarter; Senator Dickson who himself had a squabble with Governor Wike over contested oil blocks between Bayelsa and Rivers states while he was governor.
Many people are asking whether Dickson support for Secondus is an extension of his feud with the Rivers helmsman while he held sway as Bayelsa governor.
Declaring his support for the embattled PDP chairman last week, Senator Dickson who now represents Bayelsa South in the Senate said plan to remove Secondus will amount to a fruitless exercise.
He spoke on the heels of the resignation of six members of the NWC of the party who said their action was based on Secondus’ leadership style. The development has further polarized the party to the extent that efforts by Governors elected on its platform and other stalwarts to salvage the party have ended in a deadlock.
A PDP caucus in the House of Representatives, led by Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) had also last week, demanded the resignation of the PDP chair. Chinda is a former lawmaker in the Rivers state House of Assembly and a close associate of Governor Wike.
In spite of the pressure on the chairman to resign his position, Senator Dickson has stood with him like the proverbial rock of Gibraltar, describing those demanding Secondus’ ouster as saboteurs who want to destroy the party and its quest to take power in 2023.
The demand on the PDP chairman to resign “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: 3 members of the working committee and 3 Vice chairmen of the party (as indicated in the press release) does not constitute a valid resolution of the National Working Committee,” Dickson said.
According to him “It is all an effort to contrive a crisis 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.
“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 cannot 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,” Senator Dickson said.
