Despite sustained pressure to step aside, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus will not leave office before the end of the tenure of the National Working Committee (NWC) in December.
Investigation revealed that the party boss is working on the premise that the NWC tenure is sacrosanct and cannot be shortened unless dissolved by the national convention through a motion.
Top sources at the main opposition party affirmed that the bringing forward of the national convention by party stakeholders under the leadership of its Board of Trustees (BoT) is immaterial because even if the exercise is held and Secondus and his NWC voted out, they will remain in office till the date of the expiration of their term.
“Tenure is four years. Four years is due to end on December 9.Hhow are you going to abridge it? Even if we do convention tomorrow, you can only handover to people who are coming on December 10. That’s the truth, except the convention now says the National Working Committee now stands dissolved, which will come via a motion,” the source volunteered.
“We have been having conventions. You cannot leave a vacuum. So, you must actually do the convention ahead of the new people that are coming in,” the party source added.
The Nigerian Tribune also gathered that contrary to widespread belief, Prince Secondus is therefore not seeking to postpone the date of the national convention from September or November as directed by the stakeholders because it will not affect his tenure.
“Even if the NEC (National Working Committee) says the convention is today, how does it remove the fact that the tenure of the people who have been elected into office will last till a particular date? it is a constitutional issue.
“Except the convention will now hold and say the life of the National Working Committee will end on the day of the convention,” a member of the NWC of the party told the Nigerian Tribune.
The source hinted that any attempt to shorten the tenure of the NWC can lead to unnecessary litigations in court, which the party will want to avoid.
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