The aspiration by some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to vie for the position of national chairman of the party has suffered a setback with a declaration by the leadership of the party that the seat is not vacant.
Following the forced resignation of the substantive national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu in May, 2015 the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, was appointed in acting capacity.
On Tuesday, however, a mild drama played out at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja when former Political Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, stormed the secretariat to register his intention to vie for the chairmanship position.
Speaking with journalists shortly after meeting with some of the party’s leaders, Gulak said the three months that the party’s constitution allowed Secondus to act as chairman had expired and that there was need to elect a substantive chairman for the party.
“I came to inform the National Working Committee (NWC) of my intention to contest the chairmanship of the party for the purpose of rebuilding, rebranding and renovating the party.
“Going by the PDP constitution, the position is vacant because the three months allowed for anyone to act as chairman had elapsed and the party constitution stipulates that the replacement must come from the same Northeast zone as the erstwhile substantive chairman.
“The PDP cannot continue in the illegality of continuing with Acting Chairman because the three months stipulated by the party’s constitution had elapsed.
“So it is time for the NWC to convene the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting for the party to call for nominations to fill the vacancy. We have had enough of impunity”, Gulak said.
But hardly had Gulak made the intention of his visit known than the leadership of the party declared that the position is not vacant.
At a joint briefing by the National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo and National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwom, the PDP leaders pointed out that the party constitution did not stipulate time limit for an acting chairman.
According to them, the party was waiting for the report of the 2015 Post-Election Review and Assessment Committee, headed by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.
Oladipo said, “The position of chairman is not vacant because there is an acting chairman in place. We cannot call a NEC meeting until we have received the report of the Ekweremadu led committee”.
