* Supreme Court Throws Anyanwu, Udeh-Okoye Back To PDP
* Party moves to expel Wike, deny 27 Rivers lawmakers
* As.party’s new national secretariat land revoked
Hope of a truce appears far from from sight in the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as there seems no hope of the waring factors from sheathing their swords, DAVID MAXWELL and ANTHONY OCHELA write.
Over the years, begining from the events that lead up to the 2015 general elections, the then ruling party which was forced to become the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has become synonymous with crisis.
From the era of factionalisation of the party, which splinter group, the New PDP forming a formidable bloc of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to a sitting Chairman of the party openly voting for an opposition party, to the prolonged further factionalisation of the party, until the era of Ezenwo Nyesome Wike, an avowed chieftain of the party who not only appears as an obvious ‘bride’ of the opposition, who many believe is a mole of the ruling APC, the party has no doubt become synonymous with unending crisis.
Currently, the party seems to be divided between loyalists of former vice president and flag bearer of the party in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakat, and former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the FCT, Ezenwo Nyesome Wike.
Just in January, in a last-ditch effort to sabe the party from self-annihilation, governors under the party met in Asaba, Delta State and took some major decisions including confirming Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary.
The governors also mandated the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party to ensure that they meet at a date not later than March 13, 2025.
This was as a chieftain of the party, Chief Olabode George, called out former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Rivers State and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike for allowing their personal ambitions to destroy the party which he described as “nonsense that must stop.”
Furthermore, the governors called on the NWC of the party to implement the judgement of the Court of Appeal on the position of the National Secretary of the party which had pronounced the former National Youth Leader of the party, Udeh-Okoye, as the authentic National Secretary.
The office had been a source of fierce contest between Udeh-Okoye and Samuel Anyanwu until a Court of Appeal decision of December 20, 2024, which favoured Udeh-Okoye and restrained Anyanwu from parading himself as occupying that office.
Anyanwu also had a restraining order against Ude- Okoye dated January 13, 2025.
However, in a communiqué of the meeting signed by the Chairman of the PDP governors forum, Senator Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State said, “The Forum noted with delight the ongoing efforts at resolving the crisis in the 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.”
However, in a shocking development that showed truce was far from being achieved, the Supreme Court over the weekend, restored Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the party. The five-member panel led by Justice Jamilu Tukur, in a unanimous decision, vacated the concurrent verdicts of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal in Enugu, which dismised him from the office.
In the lead judgement, Justice Tukur, held that the two lower courts lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the domestic affairs of a political party that was not justiciable.
The Supreme Court panel, consequently, affirmed the minority judgement of the appellate court which nullified the decision of the trial court on account of lack of jurisdiction, also held that the plaintiff, Mr. Aniagu Emmanuel, whose suit led to Anyanwu’s removal from office, lacked the locus standi to do so.
It held that the plaintiff failed to establish how he was affected by who occupied the office of the National Secretary of PDP.
The appellate court had in a judgement it delivered last December, upheld the High Court verdict that sacked Senator Anyanwu and recognized Chief Udeh-Okoye Enemchukwu as the authentic national scribe of the party.
In its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Ridwan Abdullahi, the appellate court dismissed as incompetent and lacking in merit, Anyanwu’s bid to upturn the decision of the high court.
The court held that Anyanwu’s continued stay in office as National Secretary was in breach of PDP’s Constitution, having contested and emerged as the party’s candidate in the governorship election held in Imo State last year.
Dissatisfied with the concurrent judgements of the two courts, Anyanwu approached the Supreme Court to set them aside. He also filed a motion for accelerated hearing and for the abridgment of time within which the matter would be determined, citing the crucial role of the office of National Secretary in the affairs of the political party.
It will be recalled that both the Board of Trustees, BOT, and the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP, had earlier endorsed Chief Okoye as the National Secretary of the party, in line with the subsisting court judgements.
During the week, the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, accused Nyesom Wike of engaging in anti-party activities and threatened disciplinary action, including possible expulsion from the party.
The acting Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, Robinson Ewor, stated this during a press conference in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, where the party faulted the Supreme Court over its recent judgment regarding the defection of 27 lawmakers from the Rivers State House of Assembly and the seizure of the state’s monthly statutory allocation.
The party in a statement issued on Tuesday, March 18, in Port Harcourt by Ewor at the end of the party’s State Working Committee conference, accused the apex court of bias and granting reliefs on matters that were not presented before it.
Ewor stated that Wike’s role in President Ahmed Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress, APC, administration is a clear indication that his loyalty no longer lies with the PDP, arguing that Wike’s actions have undermined the party’s reputation and constituted anti-party behavior.
“Nyesom Wike is serving in the government of Ahmed Tinubu, there is no way his loyalty will be in PDP anymore. His loyalty 100 percent is in APC,” Ewor had said. He further stated that the party does not know the 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike as they publicly announced their detection form the PDP.
During the week too, Wike issued a demolition notice to the PDP, informing the party of his desire to takeover the land since according to him, the party has failed to pay its land dues for the permanent site of it’s national secretariat.
It is believed that this isn’t an empty threat as even the party knows he’s capable of doing it .
According to a respected journalist, Chris Kehinde Nwandu aka CKN, “Since 2015 , Peoples Democratic Party has remained an opposition party to it’s self. It not only lost most of its key members (expectedly) to the ruling APC , but the soul of the party has been torn apart.”
To another commentator, Shuna Fakum, “the crisis in the PDP is far from getting resolved. I think it’s embers are still young and would eventually conflagrate into an inferno.”
