Claim : The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Samuel Anyanwu has been removed as National Secretary of the party.
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Ahead of the Imo state governorship election, a news platform reported that Senator Anyanwu, the PDP candidate who doubles as the National Secretary of the party, has been sacked by the secretariat.
Anyanwu’s removal was reportedly ratified by the Zonal Executive Council of the Party in their meeting in Enugu.
Also, the controversial meeting approved the appointment of Rt. Hon. Ude Okoye, a former National Youth Leader of the Party as his replacement.
The report, which has been shared across social media platforms, has garnered attention from across the state with some stating that the purported removal nullifies Senator Anyanwu candidature in the forthcoming polls.
“The embattled governorship candidate and former Senator representing Imo East District had fought frantically to stop his disgraceful removal but failed to secure any court order to that effect.
Anyanwu’s removal as National Secretary less than 25 days to the governorship election in Imo State is still in contravention of his Party’s Constitution which required him to vacate office at least 30 days before the election. His recalcitrance might have technically nullified PDP’s participation in the upcoming Imo governorship election, hence any votes cast for the PDP on November 11th is a wasted vote,” a viral WhatsApp post obtained by this medium read.
It should be noted that Senator Anyanwu is the major opponent of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Governor Hope Uzodinma in the race.
*Verification:* In an attempt to verify this claim, this newspaper perused the constitution of the party, spoke to the lawyers and reached out to the PDP national secretariat.
According to Section 48 of the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party, any official of the party is automatically deemed as resigned once they get into an executive office at the state or federal government level.
Some offices including the President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor were listed in the constitution.
“Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
any member holding any office in the Party at any level shall be deemed to have resigned that office, if he or she assumes any of the following offices –
(a) President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
(b) Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
(c) Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
(d) Federal Minister; (e) Secretary to the Government of the Federation; (f) Special Adviser or Special Assistant to the President or Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; (g) Membership of the National and State Assemblies; (h) Ambassador, (i) Governor or Deputy Governor of a State; (j) Commissioner, Special Adviser or Special Assistant to the Governor”
So it’s clearly stated, that a member holding an
office in the Party at any level is required to resign that
office or position, when he or she assumes any of the offices listed.
Speaking further, a constitutional lawyer, Daniel Akpan, said that the PDP constitution did not state that the party official should resign when they are enlisted to contest or run for election.
“Senator Anyanwu has actually not run afoul of the party’s constitution, as his resignation will only become necessary or even automatically effective upon his assumption of office as Governor. For now, the man is clear and free to continue as Secretary of the party, unless he eventually wins the Nov.11 election,” another lawyer, Moses Okpara, said.
The PDP national secretariat did not respond to enquiries sent regarding the controversial meeting held in Enugu.
Verdict: Since the PDP constitution states that Senator Anyanwu can only be removed when he assumes office as a Governor, the report that he has been sacked as the National Secretary is *FALSE.*