Victor Ezeja
Umar Sani, former media adviser to former Vice President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo, has condemned the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently conducted where a new national chairman emerged.
Sani accused the PDP governors of misleading other party members by issuing a statement describing the exercise as “smooth and credible”.
The PDP Governor’s Forum had at a Meeting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Monday January 17, issued a statement congratulating the entire party members for successfully conducting a national convention that led to emergence of Senator Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the party’s national chairman.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe convention took place in October 2021 where Iyorchia won the election unopposed with 3,426 votes, having earlier been adopted as the consensus candidate.
Prior to the election, Prince Uche Secondus who was removed by the Rivers State High Court, had gone to Appeal Court to challenge his suspension as national chairman, but had the appeal dismissed for lacking in merit.
Secondus, however, vowed to appeal the judgement at the Supreme Court.
Sani said the national convention was “unconstitutional,” alleging that Secondus was denied his right to exercise his mandate.
The former media aide to Sambo said that the governors by their communique were making the public believe that all is well within the party.
His statement reads, “The Communique supposedly Issued by the PDP Governor’s Forum at a Meeting in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital on Monday, January 17th, 2022 contains a misleading and deceptive statement intended to misdirect and prejudice the minds of discerning and genuine party members and the Justices of the Supreme Court that all is well within the party and that the illegal and illicit actions leading to the convening of an unconstitutional national convention through underhand dealings which denied its rightful National Chairman the powers to exercise his mandate freely given to him by the National delegates of the party at the Dec 2017 National Convention.
“At this time that the matter is billed for adjudication by the apex court, it is foolhardy for an unconstitutional body to convene and rain accolades on themselves and a few accomplices that assisted in truncating a credible internal democracy,” the statement reads.
“Highly influential stakeholders with a large following like Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and a silent majority are awaiting the outcome of the judicial trial to chart their political future. Therefore for a pressure group to make bogus claims of having conducted a “smooth and credible” national convention is indeed heresy.
“It is a known fact that the entire exercise was characterized by flagrant violation of the party’s constitution which has resulted in litigations. How does a political party that hopes to reclaim power from an aggressive opponent like the APC build its foundation on nothing.
“Unless the party build its foundation on the rule of law and natural justice it’s aspiration may be encumbered. For the avoidance of doubt the issue as to the credibility or otherwise of the purported national convention is before the highest court of the land for determination, therefore it will be reckless and amount to a political subterfuge to copiously craft and disseminate a deceptive communique which seeks to breath life to a dead action. Such an action cannot deter the cause and course of justice.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
