The continued hold-on to the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, by Acting Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus and National Publicity
Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, has prevented aggrieved members of other
parties from joining the PDP, pointblanknews.com can report.
Senior Party officials who do not want to be named told Pointblanknews.com
that members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, who are currently
disenchanted with the way and manner the party and Government is being run
are willing to defect to the PDP but are not comfortable with the
Secondus-Metuh leadership style.
“We have received enquiries from APC members on the chances of them moving
to PDP but their main concern and challenge is the continuous presence of
Secondus and Metuh,” the PDP stalwart who does not want to be named told
Pointblanknews.com.
According to him, “We have also received enquiries from members of other
party who are willing to team up with the PDP to form a formidable
opposition but they are not comfortable with the way and manner the party
is being run by the Secondus and his men.”
Pointblanknews.com gathered that some top members of the APC and some
serving Governors who feared that the Party might disintegrate and cause
them electoral misfortunes are beginning to consider a defection to the
PDP.
Former nPDP members, a splinter group from the PDP, members of the defunct
Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigeria’s People Party, ANPP and few
others in APC are currently aggrieved and considering defection.
Sources confirmed that senior members of the APC have severally complained
about how the party is being run. Some complain how difficult it has
become to even have an audience with the President on pressing state and
national issues.
“We didn’t have it this bad under other administrations. It is hard to
discuss issues with party chieftains because you don’t know what group
they belong. The party is so divided now that it is hard to discuss
issues. It is even harder to see the President because you are always told
he is busy,” a serving APC Governor who does not want to be named told
Pointblanknews.com.
According to the Governor, “we just hope the PDP can put back their house
in order. If that happens today, you will see the defection. We will move
in high numbers.”
It was further gathered that mostly miffed by on-goings in the APC are
those who moved from the PDP and formed the nPDP and former members of the
defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that while members of the former nPDP are
currently feeling like a stranger in the APC, ACN members who form the
bloc of the APC from the south west feel the APC have been hijacked by
members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
“Look at the composition of the inner caucus of the Government. It is
dominated by CPC members. Besides the Vice President who came from the
ACN, we don’t have anyone else at the top. Even at that, the Vice
President doesn’t speak Hausa and most of the times, they speak in Hausa
and he doesn’t understand the language. We are not comfortable at all, a
chieftain of the APC who was in ACN told Pointblanknews.com.
According to him, “if sensitive positions are spread amongst the core
parties like ACN, CPC, ANPP and others, we won’t have to fear but as it
stands, once politics heat up, you will begin to see how divided we are in
APC.”
Besides defecting to PDP, some are considering floating a new party
entirely but the fear is the long time it requires to nurture it ahead of
the 2019 General elections.