The struggle by the embattled National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, to save his seat has further taken a downward turn as his primary constituency in Rivers State announced his suspension from the party.
Mr Secondus, currently battling court injunctions barring him from office, was declared suspended on Wednesday by Ward 5 of Andoni Local Government Area of the state, which is his primary base, after an extraordinary meeting of the ward executives.
Without detailed reasons, the PDP Ward 5 chairman George Christopher, said Mr Secondus’ suspension was necessitated after considering “issues affecting the party.”
“The ward executive of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ward 5, Ikuru town; the leaders on the 31st of August, 2021, discussed issues that affect the party.
“Suspension of Prince Uche Secondus was done by the ward executive after a duly constituted ward meeting called by the Secretary on the instructions of the chairman, according to the Constitution of our great party.
“The party at the ward further reaffirmed his suspension and thanked the party at the local government and state level for agreeing on the suspension,” Mr Christopher said in a statement.
Out of the 17 members of the executive, 11 reportedly endorsed the decision to suspend the embattled national chairman.
Reacting, Mr Secondus said through his media office that the “suspension” was a mere wish of the ward executives as only the National Executive Committee (NEC) could discipline the national chairman.
A statement by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, said, “The media office of Prince Uche Secondus ordinarily should not be responding to every ‘noise’ in the media being engineered by those who set out to distract and destroy the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but it’s our responsibility to guide those who are easily persuaded by news in the media hence this response.
“Such action is a mere wish as Article 59(3) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, (the) constitution states clearly that only the National Executive Committee, NEC of the party can discipline the National Chairman or any other National officer of the party.
“Members of the public and the media should therefore be wary of agents out to distract PDP from the focus of retrieving our beloved country from the irreparable damage already done to it by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Before his appointment as the PDP national chairman, Mr Secondus had served as Rivers State chairman of the party.
He was also the party’s national organising secretary and deputy national chairman.