The tussle for the national secretary position of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was one of the many frictions that has held the opposition party down for months.
A former PDP national secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and his successor, Hon Sunday Ude-Okoye, had sustained an intriguing battle for who got to oversee the party’s day to day administration and operations.
The tussle came to a head with the infamous physical display at the party’s national secretariat during a meeting of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) which Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye, were invited to.
The national secretary is an automatic member of the party’s BoT, which is also called the party’s apex advisory body and custodian.
An attempt by the Anyanwu camp to physically stop Ude-Okoye from attending the meeting was rebuffed in kind. Upon the BoT’s insistence, Ude-Okoye was allowed to join the meeting and was seated on the high table a few seats away from Anyanwu.
For pundits, that event set the tone for a spiralling turn of events which culminated in Ude-Okoye’s eventual recognition by the National Working Committee (NWC) as national secretary.
The national secretary saga overshadowed the battle by the North Central Zone to reclaim its national chairmanship position and the control of Rivers State PDP. These two still raging battle fronts are a fallout of the large battle, the quest of the party’s soul ahead of 2027.
But by the time the national secretary seat tussle simmered down, some harm had been done – lawmakers elected on the PDP’s platform had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing the leadership crisis.
The Making Of A National Secretary Crisis…
It all started with the Imo State governorship election in 2023. Anyanwu, then national secretary, joined the governorship race while holding on to the office. This scenario was frowned upon by some party leaders from the zone.
This situation was said to have contributed to former governor and deputy speaker, Hon Emeka Ihedioha’s withdrawal from the race and eventual resignation from the PDP.
It was gathered that an agreement was reached that Anyanwu would vacate the secretary’s position, a claim that was debunked by his camp.
Enter The Legal Battle
The legal battle upon which the party leadership recognised Ude-Okoye began.
In 2023, the South East Zone of the party nominated Ude-Okoye to replace Anyanwu, who had emerged as the PDP’s Imo governorship candidate.
This nomination heightened the call for Anyanwu to step down due to his new political commitments.
This was followed by a legal action at the High Court in Enugu State, instituted by Aniagu Emmanuel as plaintiff on October 20, 2023.
The defendants in the case were the PDP, Damagum as acting national chairman, Anyanwu as national secretary, and High Chief Ali Odefa, as national vice chairman of the South East Zone.
The court in its judgement on December 28, 2023, said among other things, that “the 3rd defendant was elected in April 2023 as the gubernatorial candidate of the 1st defendant for the Imo State governorship election billed for November 2023 whilst the 3rd defendant still doubles as the national secretary of the 1st defendant.
“That by occupying the two positions, the 3rd defendant made himself a judge in his own cause.
“That the spirit and letters of the 1st defendant’s constitution and electoral guidelines for primary elections given by the National Executive Committee of the 1st defendant in March, 2022, does not contemplate a situation where the same person will emerge as a gubernatorial candidate of the first defendant in any state and still occupy the position of the national secretary of the 1st defendant.
“That the 3rd defendant declaring his interest, buying the forms of the 1st defendant for the gubernatorial candidacy of the 1st defendant for Imo governorship election, causing himself to be nominated as an aspirant to the gubernatorial primaries of the 1st defendant for the 2023 gubernatorial election held in Imo State in April 2023, standing the primaries of the 1st defendant in the said election, had elected of his own volition to vacate the office of the national secretary of the 1st defendant.
“That the 3rd defendant is hereby restrained forthwith from further parading himself as the national secretary of the 1st defendant having relinquished the said position by conduct.”
The court further ordered the swearing in of Ude-Okoye, who was recommended by the South East zonal committee, as national secretary of the PDP.
Displeased, Anyanwu challenged the judgement at the Court of Appeal in Enugu which commenced on February 2, 2024.
However, on December 20, 2024, the Appeal Court ruled in favour of Ude-Okoye, confirming him as the new national secretary.
This decision was communicated to the party leadership on December 24.
Anyanwu has gone to the Supreme Court even though his demand for stay of execution of the Appeal Court verdict has yet to materialise.
The Governors, BoT’s Stance And The Meltdown
On the back of these judgements, the PDP governors and the BoT (after its committee report on the issue led by a former minister of special duties, Kabiru Turaki, SAN) prevailed on the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to recognise Ude-Okoye as national secretary.
Interestingly, Ude-Okoye and Anyanwu, had submitted themselves to the authority of the BoT committee.
But Anyanwu objected to the recommendations of the governors and BoT. He petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, the Supreme Court, and the Appeal Court on February 1. He maintained that he was still the rightful PDP national secretary, describing Ude-Okoye’s endorsements as an action that would worsen the crisis.
All eyes then shifted to the NWC, which had had its share of internal wrangling, resulting in members forming camps on sensitive issues.
Under pressure, Damagum, an Anyanwu ally, sought the advice of the national legal adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), who agreed with the position of the governors and the BoT.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba, subsequently announced the recognition of Ude-Okoye by the NWC.
A source however told LEADERSHIP Sunday that Anyanwu lost the battle as soon as he lost the confidence of the South East leaders, especially the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah.
The source said, “It has nothing to do with his closeness to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike. It was purely a case of losing the confidence of your base which is the South East. Imagine a gathering of all the eminent PDP leaders, including the PDP governor, BoT leaders from your zone, all chorusing their support for someone else. At that stage it was game over.
“He called his own meeting at Abuja, not in the South East, in Abuja and who came? Persons of no political mettle. So, I think he lost the plot a long time ago,” the party leader said.
Another party leader, who also pleaded not to be mentioned, regretted that the issue dragged on as long as it did, noting that the basis for the dispute was one of respect for procedures and respect for other party leaders.
“How can you contest a position in which you are also the referee? You are national secretary and then aspirant and candidate at the same time. This is outrightly wrong. And then it became worse when all PDP governors and the BoT members backed your removal based on the law,” he said.
However, Anyanwu supporters insist that the plot to remove him from office won’t stand.
The PDP Youth Frontiers Network has backed Anyanwu as the national secretary of the party.
Addressing journalists recently, Henry Owolabi, the group’s national coordinator, said PDP leaders recognising Ude-Okoye as national secretary were contributing to the crisis in the party.
The party, however, awaits the Supreme Court judgement on the matter.
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