The Full Account Of The PDP National Elective Convention.

Former Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus was around 3:25 am on Sunday morning sworn in as the new National Chairman of the party.

The oath-taking ceremony which ushered in the new chairman and other national officers of the PDP was administered by Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, a notary public and the party’s candidate in the last governorship election in Ondo State.

Mr Uche Secondus beat three other contestants namely High Chief (Dr) Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, Prof.Tunde Adeniran and Dr Taoheed Adedoja to emerge chairman. While Secondus had 2000 votes, Adeniran polled 231 while Dokpesi had 66. Adedoja scored nil vote.

Other officers elected at the PDP National Elective Convention are Sen. Bawa Garba as Deputy National Chairman, North and Hon. Yemi Akinyemi as Deputy National Chairman, South.

Senator Umaru Ibrahim Sauri was elected as the National Secretary while Col. Austin Abobundu was elected as National Organising Secretary. The National Publicity Secretary is Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan while Hon. Abdullahi Hussein Maibasira is the National Financial Secretary.

Hon. Adewale Aribisala was returned unopposed as the National Treasurer while Mr. Adamu Mustapha was also returned unopposed as National Auditor. Hon. Mrs. Mariam Bala Waziri is PDP’s new National Woman Leader while Mr Udo Okoye is the National Youth Leader. The National Legal Adviser of the party is Mr. Emmanuel Eno-Idem.

A few minutes after the results were announced, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi who was generally seen as unhappy with the  outcome of the election, released a statement in which he congratulated Mr. Uche Secondus and the party. According to Dokpesi, “the delegates have spoken.”

His statement obviously ran counter to the reports which said he, alongside Prof. Tunde Adeniran had walked out of the Eagle Square venue of the election in protest.

Generally, many observers would agree the elections looked credible and transparent. However, there were dissenting voices even before voting began.

Chief Bode George, one of the chairmanship aspirants from the South-West for instance, said he was withdrawing from the entire process which he claimed had been hijacked by some interests in the party. He alleged that the PDP governors had schemed to ensure that a particular candidate of their choice emerged as the chairman. He even demanded that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State apologized to the Yoruba people for allegedly saying that nobody from the South-West would be able to reposition the PDP in the zone if he won the position of National Chairman.

Bode George’s position and allegations were however discredited by most of the people connected with the elections. Even prominent contestants from the South-West could not align themselves with Bode George. Messrs.’ Jimi Agbaje and Adeyemi Olusegun for instance, said they were not aware of what Chief George had alleged. Instead, they declared that they were stepping down from the race on that election day so the number of South-West candidates would be reduced. Indeed, a few hours to voting time, five of the seven Chairmanship aspirants from the South-West had withdrawn to enhance the prospects of Prof. Adeniran winning the contest. Chief Bode George himself who had reportedly said he would not attend the convention, was prominently seated at the venue throughout the event.

Governor Wike himself spoke to AIT’s Uju Ejeye to state his position on live television. He clarified what he was alleged by George to have said and maintained that he did not disparage the Yoruba in any way. On Bode George’s demand for a public apology to the Yoruba, he said: “Bode George is a father to all. We regard him as a founding father of the party and we all respect him. That one is a governor does not mean he will not have his candidate. A governor can only support one candidate.

“They say the South-West has never produced the chairman and that a South-West chairman will turn around the fortunes of the party in the zone. And I said, the South-West even produced a PDP President of this country for eight years, but did that change the fortunes of the party in the South West? I said no single man would change the fortunes of the party in the zone and that the people have their pattern of voting.”

On the allegation that the governors had hijacked the electoral process, Wike replied: “We have 11 PDP governors. What about the 25 states left? A governor can only control his state. Secondus has served Rivers State PDP in various capacities over the years. Rivers State has always been PDP. Even Edo State where Chief Dokpesi comes from, has it always been PDP? What is wrong if I support Uche Secondus?”

The above aside, there was an attempt by supporters  of some of the aspirants to disrupt the convention by alleging that a fake list of delegates had been circulated by some powerful interests. Those voices were however silenced by counter-allegations from many officials that those circulating the lists could well be those who authored them so they could discredit the entire process.

At the end of it all, quite a lot of people believed the exercise had gone very well. Gabriel Suswam, erstwhile Governor of Benue State who was Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the convention said: “This is the first ever transparent convention PDP has done. Without us having the President, with us having only 11 governors and the Deputy Senate President, we have been able to do this. It is our most credible election.”

Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who was the Chairman of the National Convention Committee was full of gratitude to God for making the entire event superlatively successful. He said: “There had been palpable tension in Abuja and all over the nation as to whether PDP would be able to come out of this election strong. We have had a most credible and reliable election.”