February 16, (THEWILL) – After enduring several months in a lingering crisis, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party appears to be finding its bearing.
“Our public image is being dented, and they are the people (the public) who are going to vote us back to power,” a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George told journalists last Tuesday after the Board of Trustees meeting.
“Anybody trying to drown the party won’t be tolerated. If you don’t like the laws, the door is there and if you don’t go, we’ll throw you out. It’s not that anyone hates you or is afraid of you, if you have violated the rules and regulations… you’ll be disciplined,” he added.
The post-2023 general election leadership crisis that polarised the party into factions loyal to the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nyesom Wike, has intensified with the a fresh round of crisis surrounding who becomes the National Secretary the party between Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Udeh-Okoye following an Appeal Court judgement and a pending suit at the Supreme Court.
Even so, a sequence of events bears eloquent testimony to a revival.
A week after the PDP Governors Forum directed the National Working Committee of the party to respect the Appeal Court ruling on the position of National Secretary, the NWC affirmed Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of the party, effectively excluding Senator Samuel Anyanwu, another claimant to the office.
The next day, the Board of Trustees (BoT), endorsed Sunday Udeh-Okoye, as the substantive National Secretary of the party.
An ad hoc organ, the disciplinary committee of the party led by Chief Tom Ikimi had to postpone its meeting to March 2, 2024, when those invited chose to stay away. Among those invited by the committee are former Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and embattled National Secretary, Anyanwu.
“The party is certainly coming back to its right path,” a party source who asked to not be named for fear of being identified with any of the warring parties told THEWILL on Friday. The politician said, “The strategy of the major group fuelling the crisis is to keep kicking the can of NEC meetings down the road until their group is in a position to conduct the national convention.”
Investigation however shows that these series of actions taken to resolve the long-drawn crisis are politically motivated, just as they are defensive. Nobody is sure of the outcome of the pending lawsuit at the Supreme Court, which had earlier granted a stay of execution to Senator Anyanwu’s petition and enjoined all parties to the dispute to maintain the status quo until the determination of the suit.
“What do they want to achieve, why the haste in affirming Okoye as Secretary? Why not wait till after the Supreme Court judgement?” Daboimabo Warmate, leader of the Concerned PDP League, stated at the weekend.
For him, such hasty actions have been behind the “unceasing war” in the PDP.
National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Mr Debo Ologunagba, told THEWILL that the party respects and operates on the basis of the rule of law and would adhere to any judgement issued by the courts.
As of now, he said, the NWC took its decision based on supporting legal documents, including the Enugu High Court’s declaratory judgment, the Court of Appeal ruling and legal opinions from Dr Kabiru T. Turaki, SAN, and the PDP’s National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, SAN.
Referring to his earlier statement, Ologunagba stated that the party emphasised that its decision was in full compliance with the Court of Appeal judgment, noting that no superior court had issued a contrary ruling.
“The NWC overwhelmingly recognises, acknowledges and confirms Rt. Hon. S.K.E Udeh-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of the PDP in full compliance with and obedience to the Judgment of the Court of Appeal, recognising that there is no subsisting or superseding Judgment or Order from any Court of superior authority or hierarchy,” Ologunagba declared.
Disclosing that the NWC had started transmitting its resolution to the Independent National Electoral Commission and other relevant bodies for formal recognition of Ude-Okoye, the spokesman said, “On this matter alone, people have opinions, many opinions and they are free to canvas them. But our position is very clear. The judgement of the Appeal Court is very clear. If there is another one that says otherwise tomorrow, we will follow it.”
THE PROLONGED CRISIS
The immediate and remote causes of the about-to-abate crisis have been feeding on each other since the 2023 general election.
The current crisis increased in intensity with the fallouts of the election when former National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was removed by a court order and Umar Damagun was appointed as acting National Chairman. Ayu was an Atiku loyalist, who was accused of influencing his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate while Damagun is considered a loyalist to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The Acting Chairman is yet to carry out reforms within the party, which Ayu, failing to implement, quickened his exit as National Chairman. Thus, polarised by its internal crisis, the party is just starting to find peace. Even the disciplinary committee led by Ikimi is yet to carry out its work and the party’s BoT is just beginning to bite with its recent decisive position on the choice of National Secretary.
The crisis, which has already seen violent clashes between rival supporters, has threatened to further destabilise the party as it grapples with internal divisions ahead of the politics of 2027. Forces loyal to its presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Abubakar and Wike, have been battling for control of party structure.
The current dispute over the position of the National Secretary has worsened the crisis since 2023 when the South-East zone of the party nominated a former National Youth Leader, Ude-Okoye, to replace Anyanwu, who emerged as the party’s candidate for the Imo State governorship election in that year.
Besides, the role of Wike in the lingering crisis has further worsened issues. His loyalists in the National Executive Committee, NEC, have taken sides with Anyanwu, kicking against the decision of the state governors to support Ude-Okoye as National Secretary.
These members of the NEC include the Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, and a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi, who said Anyanwu remains the recognised scribe until the conduct of a national convention.
For accepting appointment in an APC administration and at a point threatening to set fire in any PDP state whose governor antagonised him, Wike was accused of being a spy for the governing party, plotting to destabilise it ahead of 2027. The FCT Minister, however, rejected the allegation.
“There is no governor today in the PDP, not anybody born of a woman can say I am an outsider. Who? I did a lot for the party. I dare anybody in the PDP to come out on national television. I dare any governor; l dare any National Working Committee member to come out on national television and say I am a mole. Let anybody come out,” Wike said.
On his part, the embattled National Secretary of the party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has challenged the authority of the PDP Governors’ Forum, warning them to respect the rule of law in the interest of peace and national stability.
Anyanwu insisted that the governor’s directive to the NWC contradicted a counter Abuja appeal court’s order that asked the party to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of his appeal at the Supreme Court.
THEWILL recalls that the legal tussle between Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye has created deep divisions within the party, with both camps laying claim to the position.
The Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal had, on December 20, 2024, affirmed Ude-Okoye’s nomination as National Secretary.
However, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal countered this ruling by granting a stay of execution and ordering both parties to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of Anyanwu’s appeal at the Supreme Court.
In a strongly worded petition titled, “Security Alert,” addressed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Anyanwu warned of potential security breaches resulting from the governors’ actions.
The petition, which was also copied to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the President of the Court of Appeal, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, accused the governors of undermining judicial authority.
The PDP scribe warned that any attempt by the NWC to enforce the governors’ directive would be “an invitation to chaos” and a direct affront to judicial authority.
“I remain the validly elected National Secretary of the PDP until a competent court rules otherwise. In the interest of peace, safety of lives, and property of innocent Nigerians, all parties must adhere to the Abuja Court of Appeal’s directive to maintain the status quo. Anything contrary will be vehemently resisted,” Anyanwu declared.
REACTIONS
Contacted for reaction on the postponement of his disciplinary committee work because those summoned failed to appear, Chief Ikimi told THEWILL that he would not comment on any issue. Prominent among those summoned are Ortom and Anyanwu, both for petitions on alleged anti-party activities.
There are insinuations that the committee is targeting Wike’s loyalists. Ikimi reportedly denied this suggestion, maintaining that no member of the party was above discipline and it did not matter when the anti-party activities were committed, provided there was a petition against the person.
A party source who chose to remain anonymous told this newspaper that, “For those who were summoned over petitions against them, they are being given the chance to clear their names so that if they were suspended tomorrow, they cannot claim otherwise even if they were to go to court. Some of them are actually the legs supporting those who are causing confusion and creating factions within the party. Once we cut those legs, the troublemakers will fall apart naturally.”
However, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State who was in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, recently to condole with Governor Seyi Makinde, over the passing of his elder brother, Sunday Makinde, stated that the crisis over the authentic party’s scribe would blow over soon with the implementation of the governor’s decision.
“We, the governors, are the leaders of this party. We have a say, and whatever we decide will be implemented,” Governor Lawal was quoted as saying in a state issued by the Special Adviser (Media) to Governor Makinde, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju.
Olanrewaju further quoted the Zamfara governor as stating that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the PDP and that the ongoing crisis, which is similar with what happens in other parties, is normal.
On their part, the BoT, led by Senator Adolphus Wabara, said it took the decision to recognise Udeh-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of the PDP following the consideration and adoption of recommendations of the report of a committee, led by Barr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN).
The board said that as a key organ of the party as enshrined under Section 13 (1)(r) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017), its decision aligns with a declaratory judgement by the High Court of Enugu, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The board also emphasised its authority under Section 32 (5)(a), which empowers it to ensure high standards of morality within the party and to call erring officers to order.
For this, Senator Wabara faced a backlash from his Abia home when the state chapter of the party clamped a suspension order on him for supporting Udeh-Okoye.
However, Ologunagba, said the suspension violated the party’s constitution and could not stand, saying that no State Working Committee has the authority to suspend or discipline a member of the National Executive Committee without recourse to the NWC, as provided in Section 57 (7) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017).
Speaking to journalists last Sunday, George said that any member who fails to obey the decision of the Board of Trustees (BoT) will be thrown out of the party.
According to him, the BoT, which is the custodian of the assets and liabilities of the party, has awakened to do the needful.
George said, “If you’re not ready to abide by the decision of the BoT you’ll be shown the way out. What is the BoT as defined in the constitution? It is the redeemer of the dos and don’ts in the party, the liabilities of the party, and assets of the party are held in trust by them.”
Hinting at the prospect of the party in 2027, he said, “24 hours in politics is a very long time, that journey started Wednesday at that meeting.”
On Anyanwu, George said he told the embattled National Secretary to calm down but if he wants to go to the Supreme Court, nobody will stop him. “But I asked him, in whose interest?”
Reacting to the decisions of the governors’ forum, BoT and NWC on the National Secretary position, two former national chairmen of the party, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo and Uche Secondus, have congratulated Udeh-Okoye on his new position. They commended the respective party organs for standing firm in defence of the rule of law and party discipline.
According to them, the party leadership has demonstrated its total commitment to the rule of law and rightly portrayed the party as a truly democratic institution by recognising Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary.
THE LAST STRAW
Authoritative party sources told THEWILL that once the issue of the National Secretary is rested, former President of the Senate, David Mark, who is from Benue State (Northcentral) may be drafted to lead the party as National Chairman. His personality appeals to a cross section of the party, both the civilian and military and is he being touted as the one that would be able to stabilize the party and lead it into the upcoming contest in 2027.
Mark, a retired military top brass, according to THEWILL checks, is open to serving as national chairman if the current crisis is amicably settled as he does not want to be seen as part of any faction.
When THEWILL sought to know the way forward for the party, Ologunagba said the media would be informed every inch of the way as developments unfold.
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
