The former acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a frontrunner in the National Chairmanship position, Prince Uche Secondus, has called on his colleagues in the race to leave the party leaders alone and stop dropping their names.

Prince Secondus said in a statement by his media office in Abuja that his colleagues should respect leaders of the party especially former Presidents and Heads of State and stopping dragging them into partisan roles.

According to the statement, the media office gathered from intelligence that some National Chairmanship aspirants have mapped out strategies aimed at furnishing media houses with stories claiming that they have been endorsed by these elders.

Secondus said that such mischief has far reaching implications for the desired harmony and peace in the party since the elders are our fall backs for unbiased roles.

According to him, “The motive of those supplying media houses with fake stories is clear, to discredit the convention and weaken the party ahead of the general election, but they would not succeed because our delegates will not be swayed by that.

“Bad enough that some aspirants in their desperation to lead the party at all cost have dragged some of our revered members of the Board of Trust BOT into playing clear bias roles and now want to drag former Presidents in.

“Severally, our leaders have been boxed into a corner by aspirants who put words into their mouth knowing that they would not want to come public to deny or concur.”

The statement said that the report in one of the national dailies claiming that former President Goodluck Jonathan wants the National Chairman to come from a particular zone is not only a fabrication from the reporter but deliberately intended to mislead.

”Former President Jonathan being a loyal and dedicated leader of the party couldn't have said that since he is fully aware that it is the decision of the party convention to zone the chairmanship position to the three zones in the South.

“Dr. Jonathan knows as a fact that our constitution states clearly that nobody or group or any organ of the party can change convention decision except a convention and he couldn't have said what is attributed to him.

“It’s disrespectful for anybody to have dragged the name of the former President to the media, by trying to say what he did not say,” Prince Secondus said. He then advised members of the party particularly the delegates to the December 9th convention to disregard the concocted story.