PRO and anti-Nyesom Wike camps in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are back on the drawing board following Friday’s judgment of the Supreme Court which went hugely in favour of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister.
While Wike’s supporters are still basking in the euphoria of the court’s verdict which handed over the control of the Rivers State House of Assembly to the minister’s men, his antagonists in the PDP hierarchy are said to be agitated ahead of the decision of the apex court on the rightful National Secretary of the party.
The position is being contested by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, an ally of Wike, and Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye who is enjoying the backing of the PDP Governors’ Forum and the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT)
The Supreme Court has scheduled for March 10 hearing in the appeal filed by Anyanwu against his ouster by a high court and the affirmation of the judgment by the Court of Appeal.
One of the immediate concerns for PDP stakeholders is the proposal by the PDP Governors’ Forum and the BoT that the party’s National Working Committee headed by Ambassador Umar Ilyas Damagum should convene a meeting of the PDP’s highest decision-making body – the National Executive Committee (NEC) – by March 13.
Another NEC meeting initially scheduled for October 2024 was rescheduled for the following month only to be postponed indefinitely until the PDP Governors’ Forum and the BoT started pushing for February and later March 13 for the meeting.
However, the office of PDP National Secretary, which is the engine room of both the PDP NWC and NEC, appears to be now in a limbo apparently on account of the struggle for the position.
On February 6, 2025, the Supreme Court fixed March 10 for the hearing of Anyanwu’s appeal.
The appellant, through his counsel, Ken Njemanze (SAN), is challenging the December 20, 2024 decision of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, which affirmed his removal from office by a high court and recognised Sunday Udey-Okoye.
Anyanwu is contending that fake documents were procured to win the case against him at the lower courts, adding that the appellate court erred in law when it upheld the trial court’s jurisdiction over a matter that dealt with the internal affairs of the PDP.
Contending against the Appeal Court’s characterization of him as a ‘political appointee’, Anyanwu emphasised that the PDP constitution outlines specific procedures for vacating executive offices, which include removal or resignation during his four-year tenure, adding that Article 47 of the PDP constitution provides for a four-year single term for party officials, and that there was no basis for the concurrent findings of the lower courts that deemed him to have vacated his office.
Respondents in the appeal include the Peoples Democratic Party and its National Chairman, Ambassador Ilya Damagun.
Sources said yesterday that power blocs working to oust both Anyanwu and Damagum are hoping that Anyanwu would lose at the Supreme Court and pave the way for a NEC meeting that can overwhelm Damagum and compel him to vacate as Acting National Chairman.
“Nobody wants to talk now. We are intently looking forward to the March 10 verdict. And if it goes the way we expect, we will be able to oust them (Damagum and Anyanwu) and give the party a fresh start,” a BoT member who requested anonymity said
Besides Friday’s judgment of the Supreme Court, Wike’s loyalists are also said to have drawn inspiration from the recent ruling of a Federal High Court in Abakaliki, which affirmed the expulsion of Chief Ali Odefa, former PDP Vice Chairman (South East).
Odefa is believed to have played a major part in the emergence of Udeh-Okoye as a contender for the office of National Secretary.
Last Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja granted an application filed by Anyanwu to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from giving effect to his removal as PDP’s National Secretary,
Playing safe to avoid legal repercussions while it prepares for the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 8, 2025, the PDP has continued to disallow Hon. Udeh-Okoye from signing official correspondence despite pressure from some party stakeholders.
The Nation gathered that in continuation of the struggle for the soul of the PDP by the Wike and Abubakar Atiku camps, the National Secretariat of the PDP has rejected a letter introducing the South-South Zonal Working Committee of the party.
The zonal EXCO was elected at a congress in Cross River State penultimate weekend with Chief Dan Orbih, an ally of Wike, as Chairman.
The letter, addressed to Senator Sam Anyanwu as National Secretary, was several times stamped as ‘rejected mail’ by the PDP Directorate of Mobilization on its arrival.
