Secondus faults attempt to not only label him wrongly by ignoring his achievements in the party but deliberately trying to discredit him.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Ike Abonyi, spokesman for the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, has said that the refusal of his principal to manipulate the 2019 Port Harcourt PDP convention against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, was the reason for his ouster from office.
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In a statement, Abonyi said he found it curious that the image of the same governor is being laundered by faceless columnists who knew that he is a destabilizing force in the PDP.
Read the full statement below
The attention of the media office of Prince Uche Secondus has been drawn to series of articles without byeline ostensibly designed to launder the image of some characters who set the hand of PDP clock back to needless litigations.
Having seen where their inundate ambition and impunity brought the party, some faceless hirelings have been making spirited efforts to spin out good of a messy situation.
Our reaction would not have been necessary if they had not embarked on needless name calling of Prince Secondus and attempt to label him wrongly by not only ignoring his envious achievements in the party but deliberately trying to discredit him.
The two latest articles are “One political personality that can influence Anyim’s Presidential Ambition” and Two.”Political Moves that may have cost Secondus PDP National Championship seat”
From the content of the two articles, it’s clear that the new godfather of PDP is drumming the melody to give meaning to his new role of deciding who is to be what in PDP henceforth and indirectly drawing template for the incoming National leadership of the party.
The first article advised Anyim to look to the direction of the new the omnipresent and omnipotent man who determines who gets what in the new PDP while the second article said Secondus is being punished for allowing Abubakar Atiku pick the ticket of the party in 2019 and that three PDP Governors of Ebonyi, Cross River and Zamfara left the party because of Prince Secondus.
Somebody was deliberately trying to hide the truth by failing to capture the correct position of things in the PDP. Because there were lots of fallacies in the write ups, the story could not connect with the reality on ground where a hitherto peaceful and vibrant party was suddenly thrown into turmoil by the same ambitious Godfather whose aspiration is to hijack the party for himself.
The faceless writers claimed that the three state governors of Ebonyi, Cross River and Zamfara states left the PDP because it was being mismanaged. But in being economical with the truth the writers failed to capture the man whose overbearing role caused their exit. The writer pretended not to know that it was the meddlesome interloping role of a particular Governor that actually forced Governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state and Prof Ben Ayade of Cross River state out of the party.
The altercation between this governor and Umahi was everywhere in the news for the writer to have known. Ditto his principal role in the crisis in Cross River state PDP that culminated in the exit of the Governor.
Even in Zamfara state, Governor Bello Matawelle still fingered this very Governor’s careless utterances as his reason for feeling not wanted in PDP and his eventual leaving.
The writer would have been allowed to run with undeserving massaging of this governor if he had not tried to run down other person by saying that PDP was mismanaged by Prince Secondus.
PDP’s mismanagement by these authors perspective is running the party by the rules and refusing to do his bidding.
If Prince Uche Secondus led National Working Committee,NWC had danced to particular interest and not allow the October 2018 National Convention go transparently or allow selfish choice candidate in Bayesa and Edo states governorship poll win undemocratically, he would have been recorded as managing well.
Recall how the entire National Executive Committee, NEC of the party was publicly abused by a governor ahead of the 2018 National Convention threatening to deal with them if they fail to pick Rivers state as host. The origin of Prince Secondus problem is on his not allowing the Port Harcourt convention go in a direction that would have negated Prince Secondus promise of free fair and transparent convention.
The strength that took the party to the 2019 general election which it performed excellently well winning the Presidency although blocked by the APC and upping the state control from 11 to 16 even though it could have been 18 as Osun and Kano states were outrightly won by PDP before the INEC’s inconclusive magic was introduced.
It was after that convention that this governor started abusing Prince Secondus led NWC publicly at the slightly opportunity.
The writers mischievously over reached themselves in their praise singing describing the problem of the party as its life wire ahead of 2023. The essence of that over praise is to block the mess the party is in at the moment due to the overbearing influence of this governor.
In other write- ups, these hirelings also tried to paint Governor Wike as the super godfather who brought Prince Secondus and made him whatever he is in politics including the national Chairman. The Governor and his group have been marketing this theory since. But they know as a fact that they are being thrifty with the truth. Where was Wike when Secondus was the Chairman of PDP in Rivers state two decades ago? Where was Wike when Secondus was the National Organizing Secretary a decade ago, Deputy National Chairman and acting National Chairman of the party. They have consistently refused to recognize the yeoman role of Prince Secondus in Wike’s life including contributing in making him Rivers state Governor. The records are there even though there may be attempt to sweep them under the carpet.
It’s therefore laughable that any true follower of PDP since Governor Wike troops jumped into the fray and hijack the party illegally will say he has sanitized the party, unless the word sanitize no longer means, made clean and hygienic.
The media office would therefore like to admonish that it would not be in the interest of our great party to be maligning Prince Secondus as the only way to promote the godfather, such misinformation certainly will not be allowed to go uncorrected and in doing that the image of the party will suffer and the division widen.
We will also like to warn Opera news channel against unprofessional act, consistently publishing libelous articles against Prince Secondus without bylines and when a rejoinder is sent with an identifiable name you refuse to publish, is criminal, and such abuse of journalism practice will not be allowed to go unchallenged.
Prince Secondus cherishes his hard earned reputation and those who tried to scratch it in the past including federal government got the sanction.
Ike Abonyi is a media Adviser to Prince Secondus.
