As Adamawa PDP nominates Juta to replace Secondus
THE bid by Ahmed Gulak, erstwhile Presidential Adviser on Political Matters to former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to assume the office of national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has suffered a setback in his home state of Adamawa, Sunday Sun can authoritatively reveal.
In a move to solve the leadership crisis facing the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) stakeholders of the party in Adamawa State have finally settled for Ambassador Wilberforce Juta as a replacement for the erstwhile national chairman of the party, Adamu Muazu. Juta, former governor of the defunct Gongola State is a member of the party Board of Trustees.
Sunday Sun checks revealed that the party chieftain from Adamawa in the North-east zone had been nominated for the office by the Adamawa State chapter of the party. Further checks revealed that the nomination has been sent to the leadership of the party in the North-east zone.
The nomination would be presented to the PDP National Executive Committee, (NEC) for ratification.
The party national caucus, Board of Trustees and NEC have separately fixed their meetings for this week to resolve the party leadership crisis.
A communiqué issued by the Adamawa State chapter of the party and signed by its chairman, Chief Joel Madaki, “resolved to support the candidature of Ambassador Wilberforce B. Juta, a former governor of the defunct Gongola State, one of the founding fathers of the PDP, a member of G-34, first National Vice Chairman (North East) of the party and currently a member of its Board of Trustee for the post of the National Chairman of PDP.”
The communique further read in part: “That, it is our conviction therefore, that Amb. Juta can well deliver in this onerous assignment.
“That, the party ( PDP) is calling on all other interested members to patriotically lay down their personal ambition for the heightened interests of the party in Adamawa State.
“That, the State Working Committee of the PDP in Adamawa State commends the efforts of those who stood up to be counted in this noble goal of salvaging the party and taken after wide and extensive consultations is in the best interest of our great party and Adamawa State.
“That, we believe this decision taken after a wide and extensive consultations, is in the best interest of our great party and Adamawa State.”
Three chieftains of the party had last week proclaimed themselves as chairman of the party.
Gulak had last Wednesday stormed the party’s national secretariat to assume position as the national chairman of the party.
Addressing newsmen, Gulak had claimed that a declaratory judgment delivered by Justice Hussein Buba of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on December 15, 2015 asking the acting national chairman, Uche Secondus to vacate his office within 14 days equally pronounced himself (Gulak) as the new chairman of the party.
His action had since been countered by the PDP Governors Forum which last Wednesday night in an emergency meeting condemned Gulak’s action. Addressing newsmen, Ondo State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Dr Segun Mimmiko said the forum had directed the acting national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus to step down from the office and revert to his earlier position as deputy national chairman.
The forum further directed the national secretary of the main opposition party, Professor Wale Oladipo to assume the office of chairman in acting capacity, pending the meetings of the party statutory organs fixed for this week.
But the governors pronouncement asking Professor Oladipo to assume position as chairman was last week dismissed as a misnomer by the party national working committee which insisted that Secondus remained the acting national chairman of the main opposition party, pending the outcome of the meeting of statutory organs of the party fixed for next week.
At a media briefing yesterday in Abuja, spokesperson of the Ahmed Gulak faction of the party, Bernard Mikko rejected the nomination of Ambassador Juta by the Adamawa State chapter of the party. He further warned the leadership of the party in the North-east against the adoption of Ambassador Juta.
Mikko claimed that the zone had since lost the mandate to produce a replacement for Uche Secondus having failed to act within the 14 days windows provided by the judgment of Justice Buba asking Secondus to vacate the office.
Mikko said: “The party was given 14 days to bring another person and it failed to do that. So, the window to do that has elapsed. Anything they do now will be challenged.
“Why did they have to wait for Gulak to activate the process? “This is where they are at fault. Why did the governors of Taraba and Gombe not call a meeting of the North-east and nominate a candidate? They had seven months after the resignation of Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu to do this but they refused.
“The North-east shouldn’t think the entire party will be subjected to their whims and caprices.”
Gulak further warned the party national working committee and governors against the national caucus and National Executive Committee meetings as he claimed that “ any meeting of caucus or NEC without Ahmed Gulak presiding won’t be acceptable and will have no effect in law.
“We shall initiate contempt charges against them. We had notified INEC of the judgment of Justice Buba.”
Spokesperson of the Gulak group also dismissed the allegation that they were being used by the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress to cause division within the main opposition party.
“All we are trying to do is to bring sanity to the PDP, majority of the party stakeholders don’t want them in office again.”
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