A member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okey Muo-Aroh, has said the election of a new crop of the party’s National Working Committee (NEC) at the October 30 and 31, 2021 convention will not truncate the tenure of the party’s suspended national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
In an interview with newsmen on Monday in Abuja, Muo-Aroh, who is a founding member of the party from the South East, said the party would use its internal mechanisms to ensure that the current NWC completes its tenure of four years in December.
Muo-Aroh, who is seeking the office of PDP National Secretary, said, “The PDP National Working Committee (NWC) in its wisdom, said it will have the convention, but the NWC will be there until the 9th of December when their tenure will expire.
“The convention doesn’t truncate the tenure of Secondus-led NWC.
“Secondus-led NWC will be in office until then. But the position of the chairman has been zoned out of the South-South. It means he can’t offer himself for re-election.”
On zoning of the presidential ticket, the NEC member said, “The party has adopted the first report on the zoning of the NWC positions. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it.
“Today, the party is talking about the national convention. Let us get the party working first. For the presidency, the politics of the day will determine how it will be zoned.
“The zoning isn’t cast in stone. What we want is the principle of rotation of power for an all-inclusive Nigeria. When the PDP was formed in 1998, we wanted to build a Nigeria where everyone will have a sense of belonging.”
He said it would be fair for the party to zone the apex ticket to the South East, explaining that: “If the party says that power should be ceded to the South and they settle for the South East, those who have enjoyed support from us will get their people to support us. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it.”
