PDP governors back Udeh-Okoye as national secretary

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have backed Sunday Ude-Okoye as national secretary of the party.

The governors’ position is contained in a communique issued after a meeting in Asaba, the capital of Delta state on Friday.

BACKGROUND

The PDP is enmeshed in a fresh leadership crisis as both Samuel Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye are laying claim to the position of national secretary.

In December 2024, the court of appeal ruled that Ude-Okoye should replace Anyanwu as the PDP 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 several court injunctions preventing his removal from office.

However, in a verdict delivered on December 20, 2024, Ridwan Abdullahi, the appeal court judge, dismissed the judgment of the high court, which prevented Anyanwu’s removal, for “lacking in merit”.

Following the judgment, Ude-Okoye has been parading himself as the national secretary of the party.

But Anyanwu said he appealed the judgment and also filed for a stay of execution at the supreme court same day the appeal court delivered the verdict in favour of Ude-Okoye.

On Wednesday, a fight broke out at the national secretariat of the PDP in Abuja when Ude-Okoye was not allowed to attend the board of trustees (BoT) meeting.

‘NWC SHOULD IMPLEMENT A’COURT JUDGEMENT’

In the communique, the governors asked the NWC to implement the court verdict recognising Ude-Okoye as the national secretary of the party.

“The Forum noted with delight the ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis in the National Working Committee, NWC, on the position of the National Secretary, and has reaffirmed its support for the Court of Appeal judgment; consequently, the Forum advised the NWC to set up the machinery for the effective implementation of the court judgment,” the communique reads.

The governors also asked the NWC to reschedule the national executive committee (NEC) meeting to March 13.

On Wednesday, the BoT constituted a panel to resolve the dispute concerning the party’s national secretary position.

The BoT named Kabiru Turaki, the former minister of special duties, as chairman of the panel.

The committee is expected to interface with the parties, “study the situation, and report to the board for further action.”