Rebranding PDP, waste of time – Gulak

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FORMER political Adviser to past President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, yesterday, lampooned the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP on its rebranding move, saying the action was a waste of time.

Gulak who expressed pessimism over the rebranding of the party ahead of 2019 following its defeat at the Presidential election after 16 years, stressed that lack of internal democracy and impunity on the part of the leadership of PDP led to its defeat by the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, the former Political Adviser said that for the rebranding to succeed, the present National Working Committee, NWC must be properly constituted.

Gulak who explained that he dragged the PDP NWC to court as part of moves to right the wrong, said, “I’m from the North-east, having exhausted all internal mechanism to ensure that the constitutional provisions are adhered to and complied with and having also neglected, failed and refused to comply with the provision of the constitution, I decided to file an action in court. This is challenging the continued existence of ‎NWC without being properly constituted. That is my case in court and it is on behalf of myself and the entire North-east zone consisting of six states that have been excluded and ignored by the Uche Secondus led committee.

“We as a zone will not accept that we are not part of PDP, we as a zone cannot be ignored by Uche Secondus and his members. We as a zone like all other zones must be part of mechanism and operations of the PDP. The North-east zone after the elections has two PDP states, South-west has two PDP states, South-south all PDP, the South-east all PDP except Imo state, North-west has no PDP and it is part and parcel of PDP because it has the National Treasurer and National Organising Secretary.

“The entire North-east zone has nobody in the NWC‎ and as such the Constitution does not envisage that. We should not be shortchanged, we should not be excluded.”

Gulak who frowned at the continued vacant position of the National Chairman, said that North-east zone ought to produce the National Chairman of the party following the resignation of Adamu Muazu as the party chairman on May 29, 2015. Rather, the zone has been marginalised by the Uche Secondus led leadership of the party.

Gulak stressed that PDP may not make any impact in the next general elections if the right things are not done in time, adding, “Despite the constitutional provision of the party which zones the position of National Chairman to the North-east, the acting Chairman of the party has deliberately kept the post vacant six months after the exit of Muazu.”

He alleged that Secondus and his committee members were working to extend their ‎stay till next year against the party’s Constitution, warning that such impunity which led to the colossal loss the party experienced in the last election is still reigning in the party.

His words: “You are aware that on the 29th of May, 2015 the former chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu resigned his position as the party chairman and a vacancy was created by his resignation. By the constitution of the party, somebody from North-east is supposed to replace Muazu.

“I have individually and collectively with the people of North-east ‎gone to the NWC under the acting chairmanship of Uche Secondus to present the demand of the North-east geo-political zone and all our demands and claims fell on deaf ears.

“You can also remember that Senator Ken Nnamani led a group to NWC to tell them that the party organ especially the NWC and BOT must be properly constituted since there are vacancies created by the resignation of their former chairman. That also fell on deaf ears.

“I have to use all the internal mechanisms of the party to address the issue because as it is today by the Constitution of the party, the NWC is not properly constituted because there’s no national chairman and the resignation of Muazu created a vacancy in that organ and replacement from the constitution of our party must, come from the North-east.”

Source: Vanguard