Secondus elected PDP Chairman as Adeniran, Dokpesi protest ‘illegal list’, say ‘Wike, Fayose may destroy party’

Prince Uche Secondus was sworn in as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday at 3:25am.
Venue was Eagle Square, Abuja.
He took his oath of office and oath of allegiance, surrounded by other national officers elected at the controversial national convention.
After him, other officers also took their oath of office and oath of allegiance.
All the officers are in the ‘Unity List’ circulated at the convention as ‘favoured aspirants’ by governors led by Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
At the venue of the convention, which started on Saturday, were former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo, governors, former governors, former ministers and other members of the party.
While reading his speech, Secondus declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would be defeated in the 2019 general elections.
Secondus defeated Professor Tunde Adeniran and Raymond Dokpesi to emerge victorious.
He was declared winner of the election after polling 2,000 votes, compared to the 230 votes secured by Adeniran and 66 votes Dokpesi got.
After the result was announced, Secondus was declared winner by the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswam, who is the Chairman of the Electoral Committee.
Before he was sworn in as the chairman, there was a drama as Dokpesi and Adeniran rejected the result, insisting that it was manipulated by Wike and governors through an ‘illegal list’ known as Unity List.
The aspirants announced their positions in separate interviews with newsmen at the venue.
Dokpesi said he rejected the process, following alleged distribution of the ‘Unity List’ to delegates, describing it as a charade that may destroy the party.
Dokpesi said that the process of voting had been rigged, following the distribution of the list.
He explained that the 21 names of candidates contained in the list appeared on the ballot papers as number one and in the voting booths as number one.
He said complaints were lodged to Suswam who confirmed that he had seen the list with some delegates but he was overwhelmed.
Dokpesi said it was unfortunate that a party which was just getting out of a major leadership crisis would be involved in acts of impunity and election malpractice.
He called on the party leadership to urgently rectify the anomaly before it becomes another major challenge in the party, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Similarly, Taiwo Akeju, Director, Media and Publicity of the Adeniran Campaign, called for the cancellation of the entire exercise.
He accused Wike and Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of being the masterminds of the ‘Unity List’ distributed to the delegates.
“We reject the entire electoral process. The election has been grossly compromised to achieve a predetermined end.
“The illegal Unity List is prepared by Governors Wike and Ayodele Fayose to foist on the entire delegates” he said.
He, however, called on the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party to takeover the affairs of the party until proper election would be conducted, since the National Caretaker Committee had been dissolved.