PDP factional caucus tackles Secondus over comments
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives says it is surprised at comments credited to PDP National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus against loyal members of the party.
The caucus, in a statement signed by Barr. Oyorima Idahosa, Special Adviser (Legal) to the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, stated that the national chairman was detailing his aides to castigate a party member and make unguarded comments on critical party matters at a time other leaders and stakeholders of the PDP were working hard for solutions to move the party forward.
“This is indeed the first time, since 1999, that an aide of the national chairman of the PDP or any political party for that matter, has ever insulted or castigated an elected member of the National Assembly, and for no reason.
“While the PDP members in the caucus, as loyal and dedicated members of the party, will not join issues with the person of the national chairman, he is however urged, as a leader, to be more circumspect in the manner he addresses issues relating to the party and her members in the media,” the caucus stated.
According to it, such comments by the national chairman will further inflame apprehensions that he was acting on the behest of certain external forces that were pursuing personal interests at the expense of the party’s unity.
“If the national chairman needed to be in the media on the issue of the minority leadership in the House of Representatives, such opportunity should have been used to explain why the National Working Committee (NWC), which he chairs, has failed to act on the report of the three committees set up by the party to investigate this and other issues relating to the National Assembly,” the statement added.
It however emphasised that the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu and his colleagues remain loyal and dedicated members of the PDP “and, once again, urge the
NWC to weigh its actions, in the interest of fairness, justice, and equity in line with the democratic ideals of our great party, the rules of the National Assembly and provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” the statement added.