How Northern Power Brokers Saved Secondus From Wike’s Coup

But for Northern power brokers in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who rallied behind Prince Uche Secondus, the party’s national chairman, the coup spearheaded by Governor Nyesom Wike to forcefully remove him from office last week would have succeeded, Daily Inde­pendent gathered.

Credible sources informed Dai­ly Independent that these northern powerbrokers were led by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Senator Walid Ji­brin, the chairman of the par­ty’s Board of Trustees (BoT).

Following the upheavals that trailed the resignation of seven members of the Na­tional Working Committee (NWC), which included the Deputy National Financial Secretary, the Deputy Legal Adviser, the Deputy National Auditor, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, the Dep­uty Women Leader and the Deputy Organising Secretary, Tambuwal, who is the chair­man of the PDP Governors’ Forum was said to have ral­lied his colleagues while Ji­brin also mobilised members of the BoT to do all they can to prevent the party from an imminent implosion.

It was also gathered that some group of retired gen­erals from the Northern part of the country who played a crucial role in the formation of the party also used their influence to calm the situa­tion, leading to a temporary ceasefire.

According to our source, “But for the intervention of Northern powerbrokers in the party who quickly mobil­ised last week Tuesday, maybe the PDP national chairman would have resigned by now. The motive of those behind the coup plot, led by Governor Nyesom Wike, was to create the impression that Secondus was incapable to lead again as governors defected and NWC members had also passed a vote of no confidence on his leadership.

“However, Governor Aminu Tambuwal really lived up to his responsibility as chairman of the PDP Gov­ernors’ Forum. He mobilised his colleagues and I think they were the ones that gave Secon­dus the needed backing that he shouldn’t resign as they were solidly behind him.

“Also, Senator Jibrin, the chairman of the BoT, also mobilised elders in the par­ty against the coup plot. He wondered why some indi­viduals in the party want the NWC dissolved when the BoT passed a vote of confidence on the Secondus-led exco in March, this year, and the Na­tional Executive Committee (NEC) also did the same a month later.

“Those in support of Sec­ondus who are in the major­ity believe that it will be an insult for the PDP for a single individual to believe he can install a national chairman of the party and remove him when he deems fit. We are not talking of a mushroom political party here. We are talking of a party that still boasts of more than 10 gov­ernors and large number of federal lawmakers across the country.

“They also believed that the current NWC led by Sec­ondus should be allowed to serve out its term which will lapse in four months’ time and seek reelection if they deem fit. They also said if the national chairman decides to contest without the sup­port of his major backer and triumphs, it shows that he is now popular among party members.

“Also not to be forgotten is the silent roles played by some retired generals and some elder statesmen in the party who urgently called the warring gladiators to order, a situation that prevented the matter from degenerating into a full-blown crisis”.

Daily Independent also gathered that the PDP gov­ernors and the BoT will meet today to deliberate on the issue, while an enlarged meeting which include PDP governors, National Assem­bly members, NWC members, former governors, former ministers, among other stake­holders, will meet tomorrow where a final position will be taken.

Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a former Minister of Trans­port, on Sunday said the PDP would have been saved from its current political crisis if the party stakeholders had al­lowed Chief Olabode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, to be­come the national chairman in 2017.

Speaking with Daily Inde­pendent, Babatope said the powerbrokers in the PDP then conspired against Bode George because they wanted a national chairman they can easily dictate to and control.

He also said that aside the conspiracy against Bode George, many of his associ­ates in the party were victi­mised while he, who was the Director-General of Bode George’s Campaign Organisa­tion was removed as member of the party’s Board of Trust­ees (BoT).

“It is a pity that people have lost political vision. If they had not lost it, they would have discovered that the PDP would have been saved from the current disaster it is fac­ing if they had allowed Bode George to emerge as the na­tional chairman of the party. But they won’t because they want a national chairman they can control and dictate to.

“They conspired against him and all of us who are his friends. All those who they al­leged were loyalists of Bode George were removed from all the PDP offices they were holding. For example, I was kicked out of the Board of Trustees of the PDP and Bode George was not allowed to run the party.

“Now, we are facing a ma­jor political disaster. Election is only about one and half years and now we have mem­bers of the NWC resigning their positions. Honestly, we are faced with a political di­saster. All of us are all guilty of the crime of visionlessness whereby we allowed things to degenerate and the PDP is now left like a political beg­gar”, he said.