He said that despite the constitutional provision of the party which zones the position of National Chairman to the North East, the acting Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus has deliberately kept the post vacant six months after the exit of Adamu Muazu.
Gulak also alleged that PDP lost the last general elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a result of what he described as entrenched impunity and lack of internal democracy within the party.
He told journalists in Abuja that the continued vacant position of the National Chairman was unhealthy for the party, adding that the current rebranding efforts by the leadership of the party ahead of 2019 elections may be futile if it’s National Working Committee (NWC) is not properly constituted.
He also said that the North East zone which is supposed to produce the National Chairman of the party following the resignation of Muazu as the party chairman on May 29, 2015 has been marginalized by the Secondus led leadership of the party, saying that PDP may not make any impact in the next general elections if the right things are not done in time.
According to Gulak, Secondus and his committee members were working to extend their stay till next year against the party’s constitution even as he warned that such impunity which led to the colossal loss the party experienced in the last election is still reigning in the party.
“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 used 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.
” 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.” [myad]
