Thugs invade PDP secretariat as Anyanwu, Ude- Okoye fight for National Secretary seat

…BoT interfaces in secretaryship tussle, calls for urgent NEC meeting,

By Tunde Opalana

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over claim to the seat of the party’s National Secretary escalated as the 79th meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) was turned into a battle ground.

Thugs loyal to both claimant to the seat, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Hon. Sunday Ude- Okoye clashed within the premises as efforts to get Okoye back into the NEC Hall venue of the meeting was blocked by those that forcefully ejected him.

Trouble started immediately after the opening speeches delivered by the acting national chairman, Amb. Ilya Damagum and the BoT chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara when attempt by Okoye to lay claim to the reserved seat for the party scribe was rebuffed by men loyal to Anyanwu.

In the process, Ude- Okoye was slapped by one of Anyanwu’s aide and he was forcefully ejected from the hall.

This infuriated Okoye’s men who were stationed outside the premise to scale the fence to rescue him and attempted to bring him back into the hall.

It took the efforts of party chieftains and security men to prevent the ugly incident from resulting in a stampede.

But in an interview with journalists after the chaotic moment died down, Ude- Okoye denied been forcefully pushed out of the meeting.

He said “I wasn’t forcefully pushed out. Some people wanted to attack me and I decided to move out in defense of myself. No one pushed me out but in defense of myself, I moved out.”

However, Ude- Okoye insisted that he is the bonafide National Secretary of the party .

“Which National Secretary are you talking about, is it me or who? I am the National Secretary, so may be you didn’t get what the BoT chairman said. The BoT chairman said that it is going to be resolved and a committee has been formed. He even mentioned the name of the chairman of the committee, Tanimu Turaki SAN. That was his statement,” said Okoye.

Answering question on when is he officially resuming duty, he said “I have already assumed office; I have assumed duty. On the 30th of December 2024, I assumed office and it is everywhere.”

However, the BoT meeting went ahead and it’s chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara in his opening speech in a preemptive tone said the meeting came at a time when the unity, focus and direction and ideals of the party are being tested in ways that call for reflection and decisive action.

He express profound disappointment over the crises currently rocking the leadership of the National Working Committee (NWC).

“As elder statesmen and women; leaders who hold the trust of the generality of our party members and the public, it is disheartening that these issues have not been resolved. The failure to resolve these internal conflicts undermines the strength and credibility of our party.

“It is therefore imperative that the NWC rises above personal interests and places the survival and progress of our great party above all other considerations.”

The BoT reiterated the need for the leadership of the party to convene an urgent meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC).

Nwabara said “In the light of these challenges, I must emphasize the urgent need for a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. I again urge the NWC to honour its words and convene the NEC meeting as scheduled in February 2025. It is pertinent to stress that party members across the country are in earnest expectation that the NEC meeting will hold this February.

“The NEC remains the highest decision-making body of our party, and it is crucial that we convene without further delay to address these pressing concerns. The NEC meeting will serve as a platform to reaffirm our shared commitment to the unity, discipline, and ideals that bind us together as members of the PDP.”

The acting national chairman, Amb.Ilya Damagum at the opening ceremony said
acknowledged that PDP has a little crisis within the NWC, but was quick to say that the crisis within the NWC, is propelled by leaders that are supposed to unite party members.

“It’s very unfortunate, I would say it the way it is, where people are called, we all know the working of NWC, some of you here have been NWC members. I’ll be sitting down at the chairman only to see my members called by certain leaders to visit certain places, without my knowledge.

“Each one of you, if you are the chairman, will find it difficult. And I want to use this opportunity to caution us, caution our leaders.

“You may have ambition, but you don’t ride on a dead horse to reach your destination. If you create crisis simply to further your ambition, you may get what you want, but you your dream will not be realized, because by that time, you have injured the horse you are going to ride to that destination.

“And as the conscience of this party, some of us are also complicit. We should look inwards, search our conscience. This party is dear to all of us, it is the only thing we have.

“The hope of Nigerians today is on this party, so we should sheath our swords, work towards uniting ourselves so that we’ll have a credible vehicle that can challenge what is bedeviling us,” he said.

In a communique released after the meeting, the BoT said “In the effort to resolve the current crisis over the position of the National Secretary of the Party, which is presently before the Courts, the BoT set up a committee led by Barr Kabiru Tanimu Turaki SAN to interface with the parties, study the situation and report to the Board for further action.

“The BoT expresses serious concerns over the unresolved challenges facing the Party especially as related to the disagreements within the National Working Committee (NWC).

“The BoT calls on the members of the NWC, all Organs, leaders and critical stakeholders of our Party across board to rise above personal, group or sectional interests and place the stability, unity, sustenance and progress of our Party and its ideals above all other considerations.

“The Acting National Chairman assured the BoT that the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting will hold as scheduled in scheduled in February 2025 to address all pertinent issues and reaffirm our shared commitment to the unity, discipline, and ideals that bind us together as members of the PDP,” the communique read in part.