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The friction within the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened yesterday as former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom threatened to sue the party’s National Disciplinary Committee for subjecting him to public ridicule.
The former governor accused the Chief Tom Ikimi-led committee of causing him reputational harm after it summoned him to clarify anti-party allegations leveled against him by petitioners.
Ortom, therefore, demanded a written apology from the Tom Ikimi-led committee in a widely publicized statement within 48 hours.
The former governor warned that failing to do so would result in him instituting a defamation lawsuit and petitioning law enforcement agencies for violations of the Cybercrimes Act 2015 by the committee.
He further warned the committee to cease and desist from any further public commentary on the matter concerning him until he had been formally notified of any allegations and given an opportunity to respond.
Ortom made the demand in a letter written by his lawyer, C.T. Mue, Esq., dated February 11, 2025, and sent to the committee, which began sitting yesterday.
On February 5, the Ikimi-led committee had invited Ortom, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and others to appear before it yesterday.
However, Ortom and Anyanwu, shortly after the committee’s invitation, declared they had not been officially invited by the panel.
The summons came shortly after the PDP Governors and the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) mandated the National Working Committee (NWC) to recognize Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye as national secretary.
The current tussle reflects the larger battle for the party’s soul, including an agitation by the North Central zone to produce the national chairman and the rift over the control of Rivers PDP.
However, Ortom, responding to the panel’s invitation through his legal representatives, faulted it for issuing a statement connecting him with investigations into petitions against him.
Ortom’s lawyer, Mue, said, “Our attention has been drawn to the press release issued by the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) of the PDP dated February 5, 2025, which publicly announced an inquiry into alleged petitions against our client.
“This public notice has caused reputational harm and violates fundamental principles as enshrined in Section 57 of the PDP Constitution 2017 (as amended) and Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, as follows:
“Violation of Section 57(4); Section 57(4) of the PDP Constitution mandates that when an allegation is made against a member, the Disciplinary Committee must inform the member in writing about the allegations against them, as well as the date, time, and venue of the hearing.”
He added that despite this clear provision, Ortom was not formally notified of any allegations in writing before the press release was issued, which constituted a gross violation of the PDP Constitution.
He continued, “Violation of Section 57(7); Section 57(7) of the PDP Constitution clearly states that no Executive Committee at any level, except the National Executive Committee (NEC), shall entertain any question of discipline relating to members of the National Executive Committee, National Assembly, deputy governors, or members.”
Noting that he falls under the above categories, Ortom stated that the panel lacks the jurisdiction to entertain any disciplinary action against him, making the purported inquiry procedurally defective and unconstitutional.
He further cited Violation of Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2015:
“The Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, in Section 24(1)(b), criminalizes the intentional transmission of false or misleading information that causes annoyance, inconvenience, or damage to a person’s reputation.”
According to the lawyer, the premature publication of allegations against Ortom, without being duly informed as provided by Section 57(4) of the PDP Constitution 2017 (as amended), has led to public ridicule and reputational harm.
“In light of the above, we hereby demand the following: that the National Disciplinary Committee immediately withdraw the press release issued on February 5, 2025; that a written apology be issued to our client within 48 hours of receiving this notice; and that the National Disciplinary Committee cease and desist from further public commentary on our client’s matter until they have been formally notified of any allegations and given an opportunity to respond.”
He warned that if the demands are not met within 48 hours from receipt of this letter, his client would have no choice but to seek redress in a court of law, including instituting a defamation lawsuit and petitioning law enforcement agencies for violations of the Cybercrimes Act 2015.
In a related development, the Benue State Chapter of the PDP has also written to the disciplinary committee, stating that the petitioner(s) against Ortom are not known party members.
Benue State PDP Chairman, Hon. Ezekiel Adaji, who signed the letter, said, “Since the petition has been copied to the ‘Benue State PDP Caretaker Committee,’ which is now the State Working Committee of the party under my leadership, although no copy of the petition has been served on me or the Benue State Working Committee, I perused the said petition and do hereby observe as follows: there is no group of the PDP in Benue State known as ‘Benue PDP Youths Conscience’; that the people who have signed the petition have not identified themselves as members of the PDP and are unknown to the PDP Benue State Chapter; that the petition has not specified the acts consisting of the alleged anti-party activities, and so on.”
He requested, among other things, that the petitioners provide evidence of their party membership, if any, to enable the Disciplinary Committee to ascertain the propriety of their petition.
Meanwhile, the Ikimi-led Committee adjourned its sitting for two weeks to allow Ortom and Anyanwu to prepare for their appearance.
Chairman of the committee, Chief Tom Ikimi, announced this after a three-hour deliberation held behind closed doors at the Legacy House, Maitama District, Abuja, on Wednesday.
While addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, Ikimi said, “The former national secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, sent us a letter that he was not well. He has a medical challenge and backed it up with letters from his doctors.
“Ortom said he did not receive the letter, but we have evidence that the letter was sent through DHL and received. However, he said he did not receive it. We want to be fair to everyone. We have deferred the meeting to March 4, 2025.”
In response to a question on whether the committee would invite those alleged to have committed anti-party activities as far back as 2015, he said, “We can only act when we receive petitions. Until we get a petition, we don’t invite.”
He, however, said the committee would be fair to everyone.
Some members of the committee who attended the sitting included former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, his Ebonyi State counterpart Dr. Sam Egwu, and the panel’s secretary, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.
Responding to a question on whether or not anti-party acts committed against the party from 2015 to date would be addressed, he said, “We can do nothing about them unless there are petitions sent to this committee. This committee does not write petitions; we only attend to petitions sent to us. So, if there’s no petition against someone, we are not going to do anything about it because that is not our business.
“Secondly, I cannot tell you what the consequences would be for anyone because we have not heard them,” Ikimi added.
PDP NWC Affirms Udeh-Okoye as National Scribe
Meanwhile, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP convened a meeting on Wednesday and affirmed Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the national secretary of the party.
The decision followed extensive consideration of a memo dated February 11, 2025, presented by the PDP’s acting national chairman, Amb. Iliya Damagun, on the issue of the national secretary of the party.
The NWC said it examined the attached documents, namely: the declaratory judgment of the High Court of Enugu State, the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, which declared Udeh-Okoye the national secretary of the PDP; the legal opinion and advice by Dr. Kabiru T. Turaki, SAN, and that of the national legal adviser of the PDP.
A statement signed by the national publicity secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said that after due consideration of the memo and the attached documents, the NWC “overwhelmingly recognizes, 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, recognizing that there is no subsisting or superseding judgment or order from any court of superior authority or hierarchy.”
He added that the PDP NWC had commenced transmitting its decision affirming Udeh-Okoye as the PDP national secretary to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant bodies for recognition in accordance with the Court of Appeal’s judgment.
Abia PDP Dismisses NWC’s Response to Wabara’s Suspension
The Abia State chapter of the PDP has dismissed the overturning of its suspension of the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Senator Adolphus Wabara, from the party, insisting that he remains suspended.
In a statement signed by the chairman, Abraham Amah, and made available to LEADERSHIP in the state capital, Umuahia, the chapter rejected the dismissal contained in a statement by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The chapter was reacting to the statement signed by the party’s national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, which declared the party’s suspension of the erstwhile Senate president on Tuesday null, void, and of no effect.
The statement argued that the suspension met every constitutional requirement of the party and could not be invalidated by a mere statement from the publicity secretary, “which is not a by-product of any official resolution of the NWC.”
More Defections Hit PDP…
Barely 24 hours after Amos Magaji, representing Zango Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna, defected to the ruling APC, another PDP member of the House of Representatives, Salisu Koko, also defected to the APC.
Koko, who represents Koko-Besse/Maiyama Constituency of Kebbi State, attributed his defection to the PDP crisis.
The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, made the announcement on the floor of the House during plenary in Abuja on Wednesday, telling the APC caucus to welcome Koko as one of them.
Also, Barr. Ifeanyi Nworie, the immediate past state acting PDP chairman in Ebonyi State, along with his supporters, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in the state.
During a civic reception organised in his honor by the people of Ezza South Local Government Area, Nworie, who spoke on behalf of other defectors, said he did not join the APC because of the crisis in the PDP but promised to work with the state government to move the state forward.
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