Secretary tussle: Confusion as PDP crisis persists over NEC meeting

ABUJA—Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is currently mired in confusion over whether its rescheduled 100th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting will still hold as planned.

This followed a decision by Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, to turn the NEC meeting into an expanded caucus meeting and reinstate Senator Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary.

The party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, and National Working Committee, NWC, have insisted the NEC meeting must go ahead, stressing that the 99th NEC meeting had resolved that the dispute over the national secretary be settled at the next NEC.

They accused Damagum of going beyond his powers and worsening the internal crisis.

Sources told Vanguard yesterday that this latest development has deepened divisions in the party.

Factions loyal to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, are backing Anyanwu, while supporters of Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde, are standing by Acting National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo, for now and Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the long-term replacement.

The dispute intensified after a Supreme Court ruling on March 21, 2025, in the case of Senator Samuel N. Anyanwu v. Aniagwu Emmanuel & 3 Ors. (SC/CV/18/2025).

The court treated the issue as an internal party matter but failed to end the disagreements.

Damagum’s move to reinstate Anyanwu and cancel the NEC meeting has angered many PDP leaders, who said the move was against the party’s constitution and undermined NEC’s authority.

PDP Southeast Vice Chairman, High Chief Ali Odefa, told Vanguard that the leaders of the party in the region were still discussing the matter.
“You will hear from us. We are yet to meet. When we meet, you will hear from us,” he said.

Meanwhile, a PDP member who supports Damagum defended the decision, saying the party needed to meet the demands of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“I’m baffled by the resistance to Anyanwu’s reinstatement. INEC made it clear that without the national secretary’s signature, our FCT election preparations are stalled, risking our credibility as an opposition party.

“The attempt to cancel the NEC meeting was a practical move to address this urgency. Why not hold a smaller caucus meeting to resolve the INEC issue and then proceed with the NEC? This endless bickering only weakens us at a time we need to show strength,” he said.

But a member of the NWC, one of the 11 officials who opposed Damagum’s actions, disagreed sharply, saying “Damagum’s unilateral reinstatement of Anyanwu is a blatant violation of the PDP constitution and an affront to the NEC’s authority, which explicitly deferred this decision to the 100th meeting.

‘’His attempt to cancel that meeting undermines the very foundation of our party’s governance. The NEC, as our highest organ, must resolve this issue, and no individual, no matter his position, can override its mandate. We risk losing our democratic principles if we allow this.”

Another party insider, who warned that the crisis could hurt the PDP badly, said:  “This crisis is tearing the PDP apart at a time Nigeria needs a strong opposition. It’s painfully clear this is a power struggle between Wike’s camp, pushing Anyanwu to tighten their grip, and Makinde’s faction, defending their own interests. These factional battles, with Anyanwu caught in the middle, make us look disorganized and weak.

“If the NEC meeting doesn’t unite us, we’re handing our opponents a free pass in the FCT election and beyond. We must put the party first.”

Efforts to get a response from the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Umar Bature, were unsuccessful at press time.

Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees, BoT, of  the party has strongly criticised the acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, accusing him of overstepping his authority and violating the party’s constitution.

This came on a day a chieftain of the party, Bode George,  dismissed claims that Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, controlled the party.

This is even as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday deferred hearing on a suit seeking to validate Senator Samuel Anyanwu’s position as the national secretary of  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, till September 22, 2025.

The party’s BoT chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, made the declaration  yesterday, following Damagum’s unilateral decision to cancel the planned 100th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting and reinstate Senator Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary.

He emphasised that NEC remained the party’s highest decision-making body after the National Convention, adding that Damagum’s actions had no legal standing within the party’s framework.

“By virtue of Section 31 (3) of the PDP Constitution, the resolution of the NEC at its 99th meeting to hold its 100th meeting on Monday, 30th June, 2025, is binding on all organs and members of the PDP,”  Wabara declared.

He also described Damagum’s attempt to reverse the National Working Committee’s, NWC, appointment of Arc. Setonji Koshoedo as acting national secretary as improper and unconstitutional.

“The decision of the NWC at its 600th meeting directing the deputy national secretary to act as national secretary remains valid, having not been set aside by the NWC or NEC. The attempt by Amb. Damagum to overturn that decision is a gross abuse of office,” he asserted.

The BoT warned that such unilateral actions could push the party into deeper crisis and undermine internal democracy.

He stated:  “The Board of Trustees, being the conscience of the Party, cannot stand idly by and watch the party descend into chaos through acts of impunity, unilateralism, and disregard for constitutional procedures.’’

To resolve the situation, the BoT reaffirmed three key decisions: That the 100th NEC meeting will go ahead on 30 June 2025 as scheduled; that Arc. Setonji Koshoedo remains acting national secretary; and that all members must respect the supremacy of the party’s constitution.

“No individual interest is greater than the institutional integrity of the PDP. The BoT, as the moral compass of the party, will continue to defend due process, uphold party supremacy, and protect the democratic ethos upon which the PDP is founded,” Wabara stressed.

This internal crisis is unfolding at a crucial moment for the PDP as it prepares for it’s national convention in August.

PDP is not Wike’s personal property, says Bode George

Also yesterday, a chieftain of the party, Bode George, dismissed claims that Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory, FCT, was in control of the party.

In an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’, George described such assertions as “a fallacy”.

He said Wike, like every other member, joined the PDP as an individual and had noparty of his own.

“If you start thinking that it is only because of his money that he remains a member of the party, wait until the NEC will meet and take decisive actions on all those who have committed anarchy.

“When did Wike join the party? Who said he owns it? Okay. He has contributed his quota, yes. But to say he owns the party, that’s a fallacy. It’s impossible,’’ “ he said, referring to the party’s national executive committee, NEC.

He contrasted the PDP’s structure with that of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which, he described as “a party owned by one individual”.

George stated:  “That is when you would know that the party is very much awake. We are not like a party owned by one individual like APC.’’

He insisted that the PDP remained “very much awake” and capable of addressing internal challenges.

On the ongoing crisis within the party, George called on party elders to intervene, saying “there is no organisation anywhere in the world where you will not have a crisis.’’

Speaking further, he said:  “When you have a crisis within the party, like we have now, or among the legislative arm, the executive arm, and the party, it is the responsibility of the elders, the custodian of the liabilities and the assets of the party to weigh in.

“But your ability to close your doors, tell yourself some home truths, and reassess the areas of friction will be a measure of your competence to the public. I don’t see this as a breaking point. It’s a lesson. It’s a deep lesson for us.

PDP crisis: Court adjourns Anyanwu’s case to Sept 22

In a related development, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has deferred hearing on a suit seeking to validate Senator Samuel Anyanwu’s position as national secretary of the party till September 22.

Justice Mohammed Umar okayed the adjournment on a day all the defendants, including the PDP, challenged the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain it.

The court held that it would hear all the pending applications on the return date, even as Senator Anyanwu’s lawyer, Mrs. U. C. Njamanze-Aku, disclosed that her client had filed a motion to amend his originating summons.

Aside from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun, other defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, are the party itself; Sunday Udeh-Okoye Ememchukwu; the National Vice Chairman, PDP South-East,  Ali Odela, as well as the Deputy National Secretary of the party, Setonji Koshoedo.

Senator Anyanwu had approached the court to stay the execution of concurrent judgements that removed him from the position and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the national secretary of the party.