PDP crisis continues as Pro-Wike leaders reaffirm Anyanwu as party’s national secretary

A bloc of leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has reaffirmed Sam Anyanwu as the duly elected and substantive national secretary of the party.

The PDP leaders announced this in a communique issued in Abuja on Monday at the end of their closed-door meeting aimed at resolving the lingering crisis in the party.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the PDP leaders were drawn from the various states of the federation.

There has been an intense contest about who is the authentic national secretary of the PDP, between Samuel Anyanwu and a former PDP National Youth Leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye.

‘Why we reaffirmed Anyanwu as national secretary’

Mr Wike, while reading out the communique, explained that Mr Anyanwu’s reaffirmation as the PDP’s national secretary was in response to a Supreme Court judgement which nullified the initial sack of Mr Anyanwu as the national secretary.

The FCT minister said that the meeting of the leaders was organised to review the state of affairs of the PDP and the need to reinforce internal democracy, equity and justice within the ranks of the party.

He said that the leaders resolved that the seemingly intractable crisis in the PDP was as a result of the inexplicable refusal of a few to adhere to the party’s constitution.

The FCT minister regretted that divisive tendencies have found expression in the conduct of certain individuals within the ranks of the party both at National Executive Committee (NEC), National Working Committee (NWC) and Board of Trustees levels.

“The party is on an inevitable path to self-annihilation if urgent steps are not taken to stop the selfish and divisive actions of a few individuals,” the minister said without mentioning names.

Mr Wike argued that Mr Anyanwu remains the duly elected and substantive national secretary of the PDP, citing sections of the party’s constitution and the Supreme Court judgment to back his claim.

“In line with the provisions of our party constitution, only the National Secretary, Anyanwu, can issue notices of meeting of the National Convention, NEC, National Caucus and the NWC.

“To this end, all notices not issued by him and actions founded on them, including correspondences to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are null and void and of no effect whatsoever,” he said.

Continuing, Mr Wike said “Furthermore, it is clear from the constitution that only the National Convention, properly and duly constituted can remove Anyanwu as the national secretary, arising from his status as a member of the NEC of the party.

“We, therefore, demand that the acting National Chairman and the National Secretary jointly issue a notice to INEC with an attached agenda for the NEC meeting of the party, being the only pathway to abide by extant laws.”

The FCT minister reiterated the commitment of the leaders to the party and urged all members to uphold the rule of law and respect constitutional mandate.

He also called on members of the party to resist all manoeuvres aimed at destabilising the party and support the efforts of the National Reconciliation Committee headed by Bukola Saraki.

Zoning of PDP presidential candidate in 2027

Mr Wike further said the PDP leaders had resolved that the party must make “an unequivocal pronouncement” by zoning the party’s presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria in the 2027 elections.

“This is in the spirit of fairness, inclusion, federal character principles and respect for our party constitution, after the unbroken years of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the north,” he said.

Some of the leaders who attended the meeting included four former governors: Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).

The governors were members of G5, a group led by Mr Wike.

However, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State was the only G5 member absent from the meeting.

The G5 was aggrieved with the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the then party’s National Chairperson, Iyorchia Ayu.

The group had demanded the resignation of the then PDP National Chairperson, Mr Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party in order to achieve a “regional balance.”

The then governors’ argument was that both Mr Ayu and Atiku hail from northern Nigeria.

Others at the PDP meeting were a former Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda, former federal and state lawmakers as well as state PDP executives.

Mr Anyanwu also attended the meeting.

Background

Mr Wike is officially a member of the PDP, although he serves in the APC administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He has been accused of deliberately sabotaging the PDP to the benefit of the Tinubu administration, but has always maintained that he is a loyal member and benefactor of the PDP.

Meanwhile, there has been an intense contest about who is the authentic national secretary of the PDP, between Messrs Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye.

The contest, which is currently tearing the party apart, has reached various courts including Nigeria’s Supreme Court.

Mr Anyanwu, the substantive occupant of the position, had stepped aside to contest in the 11 November 2023 Imo State governorship election on the PDP platform but lost to the incumbent governor, Hope Uzodinma of the APC.

He did not, however, submit a letter of resignation for the national secretary position of the party.

Meanwhile, in October 2023, some weeks before the Imo election, the leadership of the PDP in the South-east nominated Mr Ude-Okoye to replace Mr Anyanwu as the party’s national secretary.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the position of the national secretary was zoned to the South-east by the PDP in 2021 ahead of the party’s national convention on 30 October of that year.

In the heat of the debate, a High Court in Enugu State, in October 2023, ordered the PDP to replace Mr Anyanwu as the party’s national secretary with Mr Ude-Okoye. The suit was filed by the former PDP national youth leader.

The PDP’s NWC had countered the order in a motion filed on 24 October 2023.

In the motion, the NWC asked the court to set aside the order, arguing that “it was obtained by fraud and suppression of material facts” and also faulted the order for not being specific as to what position Mr Udeh-Okoye should fill.

In another twist, earlier in January 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja declared Mr Anyanwu as the valid national secretary of the PDP.

The judge, Inyang Ekwo, also restrained the national leadership of the PDP from appointing any person as its acting national secretary until the expiration of Mr Anyanwu’s four-year tenure on 9 December 2025, as enshrined in the party’s constitution.

In December, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, upheld the High Court’s ruling that Mr Ude-Okoye be recognised as the national secretary of the PDP against Mr Anyanwu.

In the lead judgement by Ridwan Abdullahi, the appellate court said Mr Anyanwu’s claim to the position after he contested and emerged as the PDP governorship election in Imo State violated the party’s constitution, and his appeal had no merit.

Despite the judgement, Mr Anyanwu refused to vacate office and appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.

Mr Ude-Okoye, on his part, assumed duty on 30 December 2024 on the strength of the judgement.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in January 2025, ordered both parties to maintain status quo until the Supreme Court resolves the appeal.

Messrs Udeh-Okoye and Anyanwu interpreted the court order differently.

Mr Ude-Okoye believed that the status quo means that he should continue to function as the PDP national secretary as pronounced by the court of appeal.

Mr Anyanwu, on his part, argued that the court’s status quo order amounted to a stay of execution of the court of appeal judgment affirming Mr Ude-Okoye as national secretary.

However, the Supreme Court, on 21 March 2025, nullified the judgements of the lower courts which sacked Mr Anyanwu as the PDP national secretary.

READ ALSO: PDP accuses Tinubu of intimidating opposition ahead of 2027 elections

While Mr Anyanwu celebrated the court overturning of his sack, the PDP leadership in the South-east expressed happiness that the court held that both courts had no jurisdiction to hear the case in the first instance.

The South-east PDP celebrated the ruling of the court that matters relating to the leadership or membership of a political party fall strictly within the party’s internal affairs and should not be the business of any court.

On 14 May, the South-east Zonal Executive Committee of the PDP renominated Mr Udeh-Okoye as the party’s national secretary.

The PDP leaders in the zone, at a meeting in Enugu, also threatened to dump the party if its NWC refuses to ratify Mr Ude-Okoye as the national secretary.

The South-east PDP leaders presented their resolution to renominate Mr Udeh-Okoye as national secretary to the party’s NWC in late May.