 The leadership crisis besetting the PDP has taken a different turn as the embattled national chairman of the party, Uche Secundus, in obedience to a high court in river state, has abdicated his office and handed over to his deputy, Eldar Yemi Akimi. Meanwhile, two contenders have emerged for the acting chairmanship of the PDP. The two contenders are Yemi Akimi, deputy national chairman, South and Suleyman Naziv deputy national chairman, North. Now they have engaged in hostilities with each claiming to be the rightful occupant of the office of the acting chairman. Well, joining us to discuss this is chairman Ikwere local government area in river state, Samoanaseke, and former national publicity secretary of the People's Democratic Party for Nashus Ikim. Thank you very much gentlemen for joining us. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be here with you. Great. I'm going to start with you, Mr. Ikim, because you have been at the national before. You might be able to help us understand exactly what's happening within the PDP. A few days ago, in fact, last week, we saw, you know, it looking like everybody had, you know, sheathed their swords. Everybody was hoping that they would together go for a national convention, which would have, you know, solved the situation on ground now, because we now have two people allegedly claiming that they're supposed to be the acting chairman. But then what changed? What exactly is going on in the PDP? We saw the Sakoto state governor saying that, you know, all is well, everything seems to be calm. And now we're seeing another issue emanating from a court in river states. Can you paint us a picture of what's happening? Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be with you always. I don't know why we're making a storm out of nothing. As far as I'm concerned, historically, these issues always come up whenever we are putting a national convention. And that goes for all the major political parties, not just PDP. And if you look even globally, these issues happen. Even when the Americans are preparing for elections, they are usually crisis surrounding, candidature control of the party and all that. So it's a democratic process, as far as I'm concerned. Now, having said that, I'm not saying that it's the best we can have, we can do better. But having said that, I also believe that having this earlier in the day as we have now and resolving is better for us than postponing it to when we are closer to the elections. And I believe ultimately, this will be held in for our democracy. The contentions about who is acting and who claims to be acting. I mean, I didn't come with the condition of a party to be clear, but I'm aware and it's enshrined in the constitution that wherever, whenever there is a vacancy for the chairmanship position, is the deputy chairman from the chairman's zone that acts on his behalf or steps in on behalf of the chairman. So that one is incontrovertible. So I don't even know where the issue should have been contentious. So for me, I think this might be the last palms of struggle towards the reactivation of PDP for lack of maybe a better word to say. I think that we are on course, and I know that once we go through the proposed next meeting, we will be on course to set up a new national executive that will guide the party towards 2023. And I think that is what all this issue is about. Mr. Wanusike, this court order is emanating from your state. And I think we've had a conversation before where I asked if this is the hand of Issa, because your governor has had twice, if I'm not mistaken, asked that Mr. Secondus step down. He seemed to have interest in the fact that Mr. Secondus is still sitting on that seat. Does he want to be the party chairman? Does he have a candidate he wants to take over from Secondus? I mean, because even Mr. Uche Secondus has come out to say that Governor Wike is after him. Well, first of all, thank you for the opportunity of being part of the program. Like my brother just said, I think Nigerians are happy that PDP is putting their house together. We are ready to let the Moos go back to where they belong to, the Moos that have been holding us down, the Moos who have been seeing the misrule that has been handed over to Nigerians by the current government or President Muhammad Wadi and the APC. Please turn off all your TV sets. Every single one needs to be turned off. We cannot afford to have that whole back sound. So if your TV is on, please turn the volume down to its minimum. We do not want to have that whole back because it's distorting the sound that's coming from you. Mr. Wanaseke, you can go ahead. Well, so like I was saying that, you know, before you have a beautiful sword, the method needs to go to the furnace of fire. And during that period, if they tell you to appreciate that sword, you won't appreciate that sword. The People's Democratic Party is the only political party that have the structures in the 774 local government to have in Nigeria to be able to wrestle power from the misruling APC government today in Nigeria. Everybody including you that's conducting this interview agrees that even Mr. President himself has agreed that he has failed. That's why he told his services chiefs when he met with them a few days ago that please help me. Let me not leave power as a failure. But having said that, Governor Zemoyosovike has too much to offer to live as people now talk about being a party chairman. It's not interesting. But he's a critical stakeholder in PDP and he understands that the future and the lives of the rivers people and the lives of Nigerians depends on what the PDP will offer. Because you cannot govern political parties that will have an election in 2023, probably in January if it's not shifted. And you're saying that people should start forming and building new political parties. That means you're allowing the APC to perpetuate themselves in office at that 2023. So we agree that the governor is behind that court order. So you agree on national TV that Governor Zemoyosovike is behind the court order? I never said so. You said that you asked me if Governor Zemoyosovike wants to be national chairman. And I'm trying to answer you so you cannot push words into my mouth. You understand? Good. That the court order emanated from River State. Governor Zemoyosovike is not a judiciary staff. He's the head of executive. And so rivers people have the right to approach courts to ask for whatever. Even non-rivers people. Somebody from Abuja can come to River State to suit an action. Somebody from America can come to River State to suit an action. So it has nothing to do with Governor Zemoyosovike. If you've seen the order of court, you do not see Governor Zemoyosovike's name in the order of court. So I don't think you'll be fair calling Governor Zemoyosovike's name. But I understand you and I know the platform I'm speaking from. So I can give it to you that the worry you have about your platform and the ruling APC is Governor Zemoyosovike and a few PDP leaders who want to stand their ground and they will not be cowed like the other people who have voted out of PDP to go to where they believe that they will have soccer. For us, we want a stronger PDP. We don't want a PDP that will see all the shenanigans and all the mischief happening in this nation and they keep quiet. Imagine what happened in NDA. In Defense Academy a few hours ago, it's an embarrassment to this nation. So we want this embarrassment to stop. We are not in ridicule. We are not in ridicule to the entire world. The giant of Africa is now a dead giant. So we need to wake up and say people and hold our future. We will not run like half-gantt from the Taliban. We will stand as a people, get a political party that will raise support from the APC, call 2021. Everybody in our party agrees. All Governors, DOT members, all members of NEG have agreed in the previous meeting that we should second this, that don't have the capacity to provide that leadership. And Governor Zemoyosovike is too much a critical stakeholder to keep quiet. All right. All right. All right. Because it is going to be some mistakes. All right. All right. I want to emphasize again why our party is dead. I want to emphasize again, please turn off all your TV sets because we're having a feedback that we do not want to have right now because it's affecting the conversation. If there's a TV that's on around you, please turn it off so that we can have a smooth conversation. But I'm coming back to you, Ms. Deike. He's talking about a formidable party, a party that would be able to stand against the ruling party come 2023. But how does a party become formidable if its house is not in order with all that's happening? Because I mean, I remember when Governor Tambua was addressing the press, he said that the chairman will stay until they had the party convention. And then of course, things would change. But it's yet to be party convention. And here we are again, having this conversation. And you said that we're making a mountain out of a molehill. But of course, if the PDP wants to be the party that can take out the APC, we can't be having its dirty linens washed in public, can we? No, I agree with you entirely that we probably need to have our house in order. But having our house in order doesn't mean there wouldn't be contestations for power. There have to be contestations for power as there is currently going on. Secondly, I want you to understand that the party is not at the national secretariat. The party is a national party. PDP is a national party, like the chairman just said, with structures across the entire 774 Google governments of Nigeria, and strong structures in the subnational governments in the 36 states and the federal capital territory. Now, that is where the foundation of the party lies. It is not at the national secretariat. Before I say that, at the subnational levels, PDP has a lot of Congresses in the 9th or 7th or so, if my memory is correct. Now, having said that, you realize that there is hardly any crisis in all those 29 states. So the crisis, if you call it that, at the national level about changing the structure, the leadership by the national level, as far as I'm concerned, is a storm in a tick up. Once we get through that, as we're about to go in place, our structures remain formidable in the words in the Google governments and in the states. So for me, I think PDP has done an opposition party has done much better than any other opposition party has done throughout the 21 or so years of this democracy, apart from the short intervention formation and one election in 2016. I can see the mess. It sounds to me like a lizard situation where it falls from high up there and then not to itself or gives itself a power in the back that I've done well. I don't know if Nigerians feel the same way when it comes to saying that you played the right kind of opposition. How well has the PDP matched up to the opposition? I mean, putting it side by side, when the APC was your position and the tables were turned, can you really say you've done a great job? Yeah, we will test that at the elections coming up. Like I said before, the APC was not up to a year when it won elections. And of course, because PDP had been in government before. We're having connection issues with you, Mr. Ekheim. So I'm just going to put a plug on your response. They will come back to you. Hopefully that the internet will be friendlier. But let me come back to you, Mr. Wanoseeke. Now we see two people contesting for that seat, even though Mr. Ekheim has said that the party constitution clearly states that when the party chairman steps down, automatically somebody from his zone, a deputy from his zone, is supposed to take that place. But I mean, looking at what it is now, it spells confusion all over because if you have a manifest or rather a constitution and you're not sticking to it, I'm wondering what else is the PDP not sticking to? That's not an issue to us. What we're interested in is the next meeting that has been called for on Friday. The neck is the superior body, the final arbiter of our party. When the neck meets on Friday, you'll be happy that the people's democratic party will come out flying again. You see, for us, we don't want you to lose sleep over what is happening, like my colleague said. Contestation of power is a normal thing that happens. It happened in the APC. Don't forget before they do election. And so it depends on how you manage yours. If you manage yours wrongly, you face the consequences. If you manage yours rightly, you take the victory and give God all the glory. Don't worry yourself, my sister. On Friday, the neck of the people's democratic party will meet and the decision that will gladden your heart has energy. I know even you, you are praying that the good days of the people's democratic party will return when you have the dividends of democracy that you appreciate. And even as you're there, you're not comfortable because you're not sure if Bandit will not invade your studio. If Bandit will invade MDA, the seat of where all our military minds are being groomed and kidnapped cadets and even the military will pay ransom. You know, it's shocking. Let's go to China's television this morning. I asked myself, come, what is really happening? Is this Afghanistan? So, but Nigerians have agreed that APC leaders have issued statements that, in fact, today on national television, an APC chief has called on the national assembly to institute an impeachment proceeding on the president. So for us, we don't want to bore ourselves. The job has half done by our opponents. They've made it easy for us to win the election country in 2023. And that's why they are scared of signing the electoral act to address that amendment to say that results, election results should be transmitted from the police unit to INX servers. They know what will happen. They know that if you be asleep all over the 774 Nukagomechi in Nigeria, we don't want to worry about ourselves. PDP, after Friday, will come out strongly. I can assure you that. Don't bother yourselves. Finally, Mr. Ikim, I hope that your connection is great now. What direction is the PDP going? Because Nigerians are watching and I'm sure that, like you said, I think we lost the connection with Mr. Ikim, unfortunately. So, Mr. Wanosike, the last question goes to you before we wrap this up. What direction is the party going in? Because Mr. Ikim said that it's a national party and you also said that the party is a national party. But from the look of things, it looks like the PDP is gradually becoming a regional party of sorts because look at where the governors of the states are and it seems like the opposition has shrunk the reach of the PDP, even though the PDP would keep telling you that they have more, you know, spread in the country than the APC. What is the PDP doing about that? First of all, you have even said it yourself. Do we need governance in all the states to win elections? Did the APC have even one state when they won elections in 2015? So that argument does not follow. The reason the matter is that Nigerians are fed up. But it's even more so than the voters in Nigeria. We are telling you that as we speak today, that there are 40 million Nigerians who are voting A2 have not voted yet. You heard the presiding pastor called Tunde Bakare, he said Nigerians that have not voting would have not voted before in previous elections. We voted this election in 2023 because this election, our life depends on it. This election will not tolerate the issue of ministry, in caution, will not tolerate the issue of police in caution. This election will take the way that it happened in Zambia. You saw the people of Zambia rise to say enough is enough. We need to take our nation, we need to take our destiny by our hand. And we are calling our brothers in diaspora. The time to return is now. Let's take our country, rebuild it. All our leaders have done their best. Those who have failed have failed. The ministers who have failed have failed with me. They don't have anything to offer anymore. There is no more time. We are saying GDP will win all the 36 states, mark my word. GDP will win all 36 states in this nation. I bet anything for it. I can tell you. All right. Well, the voters will decide. Thank you very much. Mr. Wanusike is the local government chairman for a query in river stage. And unfortunately, we've had a little connection problem with the former national publicity secretary for the people's democratic party, Mr. Wanusike. Thank you gentlemen for being part of the conversation. We have to go now. Thank you for having me. All right. Well, we'll take a short break and when we return, I will be giving you my take. Here's my take. Now, it is very disheartening. It's pretty scary that a military institution in this country, such as the defense academy with the mandate to train officers and cadets for commissioning into the three services of the armed forces was attacked by so and a soldier was killed. When will the Nigerian government led by Mr. President Mohammed Buhari and his governors understand that security of lives and property of Nigerians need to be top most on their list? And not the 23, 2023 elections because that seems to be the focus of all our politicians and the security of our people seems to have taken a back burner. So when will the governor, when will the president stop treating the issue of banditry with kids' gloves? Here's a reminder, Mr. President. You promised us in 2015 that you would give us improved security. This is nothing close to it. The time is up. No more playing games. It's time to get to work before this blows out of proportion. Fix Nigeria and fix it now. I am Mary Ann O'Call. Thank you for watching.