The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, has headed for the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, which on Friday gave a nod for the party’s National Convention to hold in Abuja on Saturday.
Reacting to the ruling, Secondus said he disagreed with it, but still respected it.
Secondus in a statement released by his Media Adviser, Ike Abonyi, said the ongoing case was not about him but the need to protect the sanctity of the party’s constitution.
The statement said, “I have just been briefed on the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt dismissing my motion to halt the National Convention of the party. I respect the position of the court even though I disagree totally with it.
“Even as the substantive case is still pending at the Court of Appeal, I have instructed my lawyers to study the ruling with a view to appealing it immediately as no abuse of the constitution of our dear party should be allowed to stand.
“The issue is not about Prince Uche Secondus but about the sanctity of our party constitution and core democratic principles of justice and rule of law not only in PDP but in our democracy. No impunity must be condoned.
“I will therefore wish to emphasise the fact that I did not take the party to court and would not have done that. As a foundation member of this party who has served at various levels as state chairman, chairman of state chairmen, National Organising Secretary, Deputy National Chairman, Acting National Chairman and now National Chairman, I am very much abreast with the workings of the party. I have been a witness to how much harm litigations have done to our party in the past and as a result, I have been a strong advocate against settling issues in courts.”
He said he resisted pressures mounted on him to go to court to stop those planning against him because of his love for the party, adding that he did not want to be seen as someone who took the party to court.
He added, “This was why I resisted and rejected entreaties of those who wanted me to go to court to halt these forces when it was obvious that they were determined to disrupt my leadership and truncate my tenure in office with the sole objective of hijacking the party for their selfish, ulterior motives.
“To allow this travesty to stand is to reduce our beloved party to a level where anybody can wake up overnight and remove officers against the proscribed constitutional process and the National Chairman for that matter, purporting to use the judiciary through an ex parte order to legitimise same.
“As a major practitioner in our democracy, I am duty-bound to protect and defend the sanctity of the provisions of our constitution of which I am the custodian.
“I wish to at this juncture thank and appreciate leaders and other stakeholders of our party who have called to express their concerns on this matter and appeal for the understanding of all.”
He noted that if those who orchestrated and foisted the avoidable crisis on the party had listened to the wise counsel of party leaders and elders who advised the withdrawal of cases, the current situation would have been avoidable. I wish the party well as always.”
