JUST IN: High Court suspends Uche Secondus From Acting As PDP National Chairman

By EAGLE EYE NEWS24

 A High Court in Rivers State has granted an interim order restraining Mr Uche Secondus from parading or acting as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Justice Okogbule Gbasam of the Degema Division of the Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt gave the order on Monday.

“That an order of interim injunction is granted restraining the first defendant from parading himself as a member of the second defendant or national chaiman of the defendant or performing the functions of national chairman of the second defendant or any committee of the second defendants at ward, local government or state level or calling for any ward, local government or state congress of the second defendant or setting up committees for such congresses or participating in any activity of the second defendant whatsoever whilst on suspension as a member of the second defendant pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,” he said.

The order of the vacation court follows a motion ex parte marked PHC/2183/CS/2021 and filed by four persons – Ibeawuchi Alex, Dennis Amadi, Emmanuel Stephen, and Umeziriki Onucha.

Secondus and the main opposition party were listed as the first and second respondents to the suit.

According to documents signed by the Assistant Chief Registrar (Litigation) of the court, Patricia Victor-Nwoka, Justice Gbasam also ordered Secondus to stop parading himself as a member of the PDP.

He made the order after reading the affidavit in support of the motion ex parte and the written address, as well as heard the submissions of the counsel for the applicants.

EAGLE EYE WATCH reports that the tenure of Mr Secondus and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) ought to have expire in December having been elected for a four-year mandate in December 2018.

Recall that some members of Nigeria’s main opposition party has expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership of the national chairman.

They claimed that the party’s misfortune has nosedived since Mr Secondus took over.

The members repeatedly cited the many defections that have hit the party, including those of three of its governors and members of the National Assembly.

Governors David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Ben Ayade of Cross River and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last 10 months.

Similarly, some members of the PDP in the National Assembly also dumped the party for the APC.

A member of the BOT, Joy Emordi, a former senator, also resigned her membership of the party.

The crisis assumed a new dimension last week with the resignation of seven members of the NWC from their positions last week.

Those who resigned were the Deputy National Financial Secretary, Gerald Irona; Deputy National Organising Secretary, Hassan Yakubu; Deputy National Legal Adviser, Ahmed Liman, and Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi.

Others were the Deputy National Woman Leader, Hadizat Umoru; Deputy National Auditor, Divine Arong, and another official who could not be immediately identified.

They alleged that they were being sidelined by the national chairman.

Recently, members of the PDP BoT met in Abuja and resolved to constitute a committee to look into the leadership crisis rocking the party.

Since its formation in 1998, the PDP has had nine substantive national chairmen and three acting national chairmen.

They are Solomon Lar, Barnabas Gemade, Audu Ogbeh, Ahmadu Ali, Vincent Ogbulafor and Okwelieze Nwodo.

The others are Bamangar Tukur, Adamu Mu’’azu, Ali Modu Sheriff and Mr Secondus.

Bello Mohammed, Kawu Baraje and Secondus at one time or the other acted as national chairman.

Former Vice President Alex Ekwueme was National Chairman for three months when the party was formed in 1998 before he stepped down to pursue his presidential ambition but lost to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Of the nine substantive chairmen, only Mr Ali left office without rancour. Others were forced out.