Eleven members of the national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have rejected the return of Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Umar Damagum, acting
national chairman of the PDP, said Anyanwu will resume as the party’s national
secretary.
Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi and chairman of the PDP’s
Governors’ Forum; Abba Moro, lawmaker representing Benue south and minority
leader of the senate; and other party officials, were present during the press
conference.
The acting chairman also said the planned national executive
committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for June 30 will no longer hold.
Anyanwu, an ally of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal
capital territory (FCT), was affirmed after members of the PDP NWC and several
governors met with Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), and other senior officials.
In a joint statement, the 11 NWC members said Anyanwu was
not reinstated as the party’s scribe and that the NEC meeting will be held on
June 30.
“The pronouncements by the acting national chairman have no
foundation as no organ of the party (including the NWC), individual or group
has the power to cancel, overrule, veto or vary the resolution of the national
executive committee (NEC) under the constitution of the PDP (as amended in
2017),” the statement reads.
“Furthermore, the claim by Amb. Damagum that sen. Samuel
Anyanwu has been asked to resume office as the national secretary of the party
is therefore misleading, being contrary to the resolution of NEC.
“In the light of the foregoing, the 100th NEC meeting as
scheduled for Monday, 30th June, 2025 has not been cancelled or postponed.”
The NWC members are Taofeek Arapaja (deputy national
chairman, south), Setonji Koshoedo (acting national secretary), Ahmed Mohammed
(national treasurer), Okechukwu Daniel (national auditor) and Debo Ologunagba
(national publicity secretary).
Others are Woyengikuro Daniel (national financial
secretary), Ali Odefa (national vice chairman, south-east), Emmanuel Ogidi-
(caretaker committee chairman, south-south), Amina Bryhm (national woman
leader).
Hayatu Gwarzo (national vice chairman, north-west), and
Ajisafe Toyese (national vice chairman, south-west) make up the list.
In May, the PDP wrote to the electoral body over its plan to
hold the NEC meeting at its national secretariat in Abuja on June 30.
The notice, signed by Damagum, was in line with the
electoral umpire’s 21-day notification requirement for political meetings of
such magnitude.
However, in a letter dated June 13 and addressed to the
party’s chairman, INEC said the notice of the meeting failed to comply with its
regulations.
The commission said the notice of the proposed NEC meeting
ought to have been jointly signed by the party’s national chairman and
secretary.
But Ologunagba said the party would go ahead with the NEC
meeting, noting that INEC’s approval was not required for the PDP to hold the
gathering.
THE TUSSLE
Anyanwu, Sunday Udeh-Okoye, and Koshoedo have each laid
claim to the PDP national secretary position.
In December 2024, the court of appeal ruled that Udeh-Okoye
should replace Anyanwu as the PDP national secretary.
The south-east zonal executive committee of the party
nominated Udeh-Okoye to replace Anyanwu after he became the PDP gubernatorial
candidate in Imo state in 2023.
Anyanwu had obtained several court injunctions to prevent
his removal from office.
However, in a verdict delivered on December 20, 2024, Ridwan
Abdullahi, the appeal court judge, dismissed the judgment of the high court,
which prevented Anyanwu’s removal, for “lacking in merit”.
Following the judgment, Udeh-Okoye said he is the national
secretary of the party.
However, Anyanwu claimed he appealed the judgment and also
filed for a stay of execution at the supreme court the same day the appeal
court delivered the verdict in favour of Udeh-Okoye.
On January 31, governors elected on the PDP platform
recognised Udeh-Okoye as the party’s scribe.
About a week later, the party’s board of trustees (BoT)
aligned with the governors.
In March, the supreme court, in its verdict delivered by a
five-member panel, held that the debate over the position is an internal affair
not subject to adjudication.
Delivering the lead judgment, Jamilu Tukur consequently
struck out the ruling of the trial court delivered in October 2024 and also set
aside the majority verdict of the court of appeal.
The court affirmed the minority judgment of the appellate
court, which had nullified the judgment of the trial court over a “lack of
jurisdiction”.
In April, the PDP governors recommended that Koshoedo, the
deputy national secretary, should serve in an acting capacity until a
substantive secretary is nominated from the south-east zone and ratified by the
NEC.
On May 14, the south-east PDP members threatened to leave
the party if Udeh-Okoye is not recognised as the national secretary.
In late May, the PDP NEC received the resolution of the south-east
zonal executive on the national secretary position but resolved to consider it
at its next meeting, scheduled for June 30.
In early June, PDP stakeholders, led by Wike asked the party
to allow Anyanwu to serve as national secretary till his tenure ends in
December.
Members of the group include three former governors —
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia and Samuel Ortom of Benue.
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