The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to deepen as Senator Samuel Anyanwu strongly criticized the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) for recognizing former National Youth Leader Sunday Ude-Okoye as the National Secretary....CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
During an exclusive interview with The Punch, Anyanwu rejected the BoT’s decision, arguing that most of its members had already completed their tenure since October last year.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Earlier on Wednesday, the BoT Chairman and former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, announced that after reviewing the report from Tanimu Turaki’s committee, the trustees upheld Ude-Okoye’s appointment in line with the Appeal Court’s ruling.
The PDP has been dealing with internal conflicts for a long time, both before and after the 2023 general elections. These disputes have caused divisions among party members and further weakened the party’s stability.
Umar Damagum, the acting National Chairman, has been facing increasing criticism, with many members blaming him for the party’s ongoing struggles since he took over from Iyorchia Ayu.
One of the major sources of conflict has been the position of the National Secretary. In 2023, the PDP’s South East zone nominated Ude-Okoye to replace Anyanwu, who had been selected as the party’s candidate for the Imo State governorship election. However, this move led to further disagreements, as some members insisted that Anyanwu should step down because of his new political role.
On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu ruled in favor of Ude-Okoye, confirming him as the rightful National Secretary. This ruling was formally communicated to the party leadership on December 24. Despite this, tensions remained high, and the leadership crisis within the party continued.
The situation worsened on January 28 when Anyanwu’s supporters forcefully removed Ude-Okoye from a BoT meeting. Security personnel had to intervene to restore order. In response, PDP governors, led by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, endorsed the Appeal Court’s ruling and urged the party’s National Working Committee to implement the decision.
At a recent meeting in Asaba, Delta State, the PDP governors distanced themselves from Anyanwu and reaffirmed Ude-Okoye as the legitimate National Secretary.
Meanwhile, Anyanwu has taken legal action, filing petitions with the Inspector-General of Police, the Supreme Court, and the Appeal Court on February 1. He insists that he remains the rightful National Secretary and warned that recognizing Ude-Okoye would further deepen the party’s crisis.
However, Wabara maintained that the BoT’s decision was based on a thorough review of all available documents and legal rulings.
It was reported that a reliable source, who attended the BoT meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, stated that the Trustees endorsed Ude-Okoye based on the judgment and the expiration of Anyanwu’s temporary stay of execution.
He stated, “Turaki briefed the BoT members, and we unanimously affirmed Ude-Okoye. This is because the Appeal Court’s Enugu judgment is a declarative judgment that cannot be stayed.
The second reason is that the purported stay of execution Anyanwu said he has was a temporary stay and not indefinite. It expired on January 27th. That was the day the motion for stay was supposed to be considered, but the matter did not come up, so the stay elapsed because it is time-bound.
