At last, the animosity which now reigns between Governor Nyesom Wike and Prince Uche Secondus has finally blown into the open.
The two men whose fight may split the PDP down the middle on the road to the National Convention hail from the Rivers State.
Whereas Wike is from the Upland area of the State, Secondus hails from the Riverine parts.
With Wike positioning himself to undo Secondus, the stage is gradually being set for a riverine – upland confrontation inside the PDP.
The Port Harcourt Telegraph has long disclosed that the two men who have emerged as important arrowheads of the PDP have become complete political enemies.
Wike who has engaged in subterranean attempts to remove Secondus from office after Atiku Abubakar clinched the presidential ticket in respect of the 2019 election finally made his move in the open.
He pointedly accused the PDP National Chairman and the party’s NWC of failing to deliver on their mandate.
Wike who apparently admitted the PDP is in deep crisis blamed Uche Secondus and members of his team for the current woes faced by the party.
This publication, quoting credible sources within the PDP had several months ago revealed that the relationship between both men has broken down irreparably.
Prior to the Edo election, Wike had described members of the NWC as “tax collectors”, a claim that was quickly refuted by the party which accused the Rivers Governor of using the courts in Port Harcourt to destabilise it.
The response by his own party which obviously had the seal of the National Chairman exposed the Governor’s underbelly and revealed how Wike apparently uses some gullible judges in Rivers State to achieve the destabilization of his opponents.
The APC in Rivers State has repeatedly drawn attention to Wike’s misuse of the judiciary through alleged bribery, but the PDP’s swift reaction, following an attempt to frustrate Governor Godwin Obaseki’s re-election bid on the platform of the party opened a can of worms.
With Wike launching a charade against the National Chairman and the PDP’s NWC the die is certainly cast.
So far, Secondus has not reacted to Wike’s comments but many are appalled by the Governor’s bid to pull down a man that is seen as his own brother.
Close associates of the National Chairman in the State disclose Wike is uncomfortable with the thought of Secondus remaining in the saddle.
“Wike is planning to single handedly impose an Upland governorship candidate on the party in Rivers State. Already, he has succeeded in excluding everyone, using the machinery of government to organize congresses that are not popular with a great majority of party members.
“He sees the National Chairman as a stumbling block to his plan. Every time Wike wants to force his will on others. Shall we die because Wike is governor?”, the source asked.
“It is evident, based on the run of events, that Governor Wike has lost control of Uche Secondus”, a political observer noted.
Speaking under conditions of anonymity, the observer stressed, “Secondus is believed to have warmed his way into Atiku’s political camp which is considered very formidable within the PDP.”
Wike is believed to be uncomfortable with the idea that Secondus has an aspiration to run for another tenure in office as National Chairman of the PDP.
Worse still is the feeling among acolytes of the Rivers Governor that Secondus would dare to run for a second tenure without seeking their support.
Should Secondus win at the convention inspite of the fierce fight that is coming, Wike’s secret ambition to emerge as a vice presidential candidate might go up in smoke.