‘APC agents at work’ — PDP dismisses alleged forgery in case affirming Udeh-Okoye as national secretary

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to a court ruling ordering an investigation into its primary election guidelines over allegations of forgery. 

BACKGROUND

The PDP has recently been embroiled in a leadership crisis with Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Udeh-Okoye laying claim to the position of national secretary.

The south-east zonal executive committee of the party nominated Udeh-Okoye to replace Anyanwu after he became the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Imo state in 2023.

Anyanwu had obtained court injunctions against his removal from office.

However, in December 2024, Ridwan Abdullahi, the appeal court judge, dismissed the judgment of a high court, which prevented Anyanwu’s removal, for “lacking in merit”.

In a new twist to the crisis, a magistrate court in Abuja ordered the police to investigate the allegations that officials of the party used forged documents during the court of appeal hearing.

The court gave the order following a petition filed by Mike Iheanaetu, a PDP member.

Reacting to the court order, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, dismissed the forgery allegation as “sensational and misleading”.

Ologunagba said “resentful individuals” who are “agents of APC” are behind the scandal.

He added that the move attempts to “discredit the integrity of PDP’s internal processes and bring the opposition party to public ridicule”.

“Our party is shocked by the level of desperation being displayed by these individuals, reportedly with the backing of a particular top official in the APC administration who had on several occasions vowed to destroy the PDP to enable the APC to entrench a totalitarian and oppressive one-party system in our nation to the resentment and detriment of Nigerians,” the statement reads.

“Our party is appalled by the scandalous and reprehensible attempt by these desperate individuals to drag the police and a magistrate court in Abuja into the party’s internal affairs despite the pronouncement of various courts of higher hierarchy, including the supreme court, stating that issues touching on the nomination of candidates for elections are strictly internal affairs of political parties over which the courts have no jurisdiction.”