PDP: National Secretary tussle, matters arising

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

Who is the authentic National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? That is the question that has deepened the division in the opposition party, as Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Honourable Sunday Ude-Okoye battle over who the rightful occupant of the office is.

While key stakeholders in the opposition party, including the PDP Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees ( BoT), have  pitched tent with Ude-Okoye, a former National Youth Leader of the party, as the authentic scribe of the PDP, Anyanwu and his supporters think otherwise.

On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the tussle assumed a fresh twist with the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) recognising the former National Youth Leader as the authentic National Secretary.   

The controversy over the exalted position, which has deepened the crisis in the opposition party, started in 2023, when the South East chapter of the party, at a meeting in Enugu nominated Ude-Okoye to replace Anyanwu as National Secretary of the opposition party.

The party’s National Vice Chairman, Chief Ali Odefa in a communique, after the parley, which was attended by the leader of the party in the zone, Governor Peter Mbah, said the PDP resolved to nominate Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary of the party to allow Anyanwu, who had emerged as the PDP candidate in the Imo gubernatorial contest to concentrate on his campaign.

The PDP leaders had argued that having emerged gubernatorial candidate, Anyanwu could no longer continue to occupy the seat as National Secretary, which was zoned to the South East. Thus, the South East PDP requested the party’s national secretariat to swear in the former youth leader as his replacement. 

However, following the failure of the PDP NWC to give effect to Ude-Okoye’s nomination, a member of the party from the zone, Emmanuel Aniagu, approached an Enugu High Court praying for the enforcement of the resolution of the South East chapter of the party. 

Specifically, Aniagu in the suit, had contended that Anyanwu, by virtue of his position as National Secretary, plays key roles in the nomination of candidates for elections, and that emerging gubernatorial candidate while still retaining his office, had allegedly made himself a judge in his own case.

Consequently, the plaintiff sought a declaration by the Court that by his emergence as National Secretary, Anyanwu had relinquished his office, as well as an order compelling the PDP to recognise Ude-Okoye as National Secretary to serve out the term of the former.  On December 22, 2023 the Court gave judgement in his favour.

On the flipside, On January 9, 2024 a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja gave judgment in favour of Anyanwu. Nonetheless, the contest over the PDP National Secretary position assumed a fresh twist on December, 20, 2024, when the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, in a judgment on an appeal arising from the two conflicting judgments affirmed Ude-Okoye as the National Secretary of the party.

The former National Youth Leader, armed with the judgment of the court, was at the PDP secretariat on December 30, 2024 to assume office, informing journalists that in line with the judgment, he had assumed office as PDP National Secretary.

This did not however sit well with Anyanwu, who continued to insist that he remains the National Secretary. He was at the party’s secretariat on January 13, to resume office; same day, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, ordered the parties to maintain the status quo, ante bellum, and fixed the determination of a motion for stay of execution filed by Anyanwu for January 27. Nonetheless, the appellate court has postponed the determination of the stay of execution to later date.

Beaming with optimism, the light-skinned politicians told journalists at the Wadada Plaza that the law was on his side; hence his decision to resume duty as the PDP ultimate scribe.

His words: “Last December (2024, precisely the 20th), the Appeal Court in Enugu took a dissenting judgment. What the law says is that I should appeal, and I appealed the matter, an appeal for stay of execution- an appeal to the Supreme Court.  Obviously, what it means is that the position will remain as it is until it is determined by the Supreme Court.”

But the order to maintain the status quo ante bellum stirred a new controversy among the disputants. While the Ude-Okoye camp maintains that status quo ante bellum means his declaration as National Secretary by the Court of Appeal subsists, the Anyanwu’s group thinks otherwise.

Weighing in on the controversy, the PDP Governors Forum, in a communique issued after a meeting, in Asaba, recently endorsed the former Youth Leader as the party’s scribe and implored the party’s National Working Committee ( NWC) to implement the Court of Appeal judgment.

Similarly, the PDP Board of Trustees ( BoT), recemtly, recognised Ude-Okoye as National Secretary and directed the NWC to inaugurate him. The BoT had adopted a report of its committee headed by former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, SAN, which mediated on claims by the two disputants. The BoT, had at its meeting on January 29, constituted a panel headed by the former Special Duties minister, to interface with the disputants, “study the situation” and report back to it.

The Turaki panel in its report had noted that “after perusing and painstakingly going through all the court documents and processes given to me by the parties, that from the 22nd day of December, 2023, Hon. S.K.E Udeh Okoye is the authentic and Bonafide National Secretary of our party. That he has not been sworn in by the Acting National Chairman and allowed to perform the functions of that office as directed by the Enugu State High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal is immaterial.

“This is because Equity sees as done that which ought to have been done. In other words, in the eyes of the law, he is taken to have assumed office of the National Secretary of our party effective from the 22nd day of December,2023.”

It added that though Anyanwu has appealed to the Supreme Court, “in our jurisdiction, like in other common law countries, courts do not stay declaratory judgments, as in actual fact there’s nothing to stay in a declaratory order. The cause of confusion is what was the status quo ante bellum as at the 13th of January, 2025? With all due respect, the status quo ante bellum as at the 13th of January, 2025, as I have stated earlier on in my conclusions is one that has Hon. S.K.E.Udeh Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of our party.

“If the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division therefore says that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained, the plain meaning of the directive of the Court is that he should remain in office until the 27th, when the court will hear the application and determine whether his continued occupation of the office should be interfered with or not,” Turaki, SAN, submitted.

The PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, in his legal opinion to the NWC on the tussle, said since the contending parties have submitted themselves to the intervention of the BoT, it behoves on them, as well as the party, to accept the position of the PDP elders. He cautioned that any attempt to ignore the BoT resolution would hurt the opposition party.

“The contending parties, having voluntarily submitted to the authority of the Dr. Kabiru T. Turaki, SAN led committee and a legal opinion/advise having been proffered after evaluation of documents tendered by parties, calling for review of the said legal opinion/advise in my opinion is not only improper but will undermine the effort of the BoT and increase the already existing tension as well as worsen the volatility within the party, which may be difficult to arrest.

“It is, therefore, my advice that the contending parties, having willingly submitted themselves to the authority of the committee led by Dr. Kabiru T. Turaki, SAN should be honourable enough to abide by the outcome of the legal opinion/advice stemming from the proceeding they unreservedly consented to, most especially that the said legal opinion/advise was signed by a well experienced Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and same adopted by the BoT which is the conscience of the party. See Article 32(5) (a) to (i) of the Constitution (amended in 2017) of our great party,” Ajibade stated

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement, last Wednesday, said the NWC having recognised Ude-Okoye, as National Secretary of the opposition party, in compliance with the decision of the BoT, efforts are being taken to inform the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) about the development in the opposition party.

Nevertheless, pundits say beyond the recognition of the former Youth Leader by the PDP leadership as its new scribe, the tussle over the National Secretary position may be far from being over. This is especially against the backdrop of Anyanwu’s appeal, which is before the Supreme Court.  Therefore, in the coming days, all eyes will be on the judiciary, as the battle shifts to the apex court.